Near friction free lube discovered

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 23, 2003
Messages
109
Location
Leominster, MA
from "theinquirer"..

By INQUIRER staff: Wednesday 06 July 2005, 11:30
A REPORT said that scientists at Seikei and Aichi universities have discovered a lubricant that promises near to zero friction.

According to the report, in today's Nikkei Business Daily, the multilayer material consists of arrays of ball shaped fullerene molecules, between a sandwich of ultra thin films of graphite.

The graphite layers are around 1.3 nanometres, says the paper, with the fullerene balls about .7 nanometres in diameter, with molecular forces keeping the balls spaced evenly.

The report claims that when pressure is applied, it operates at a friction force of less than .4 nanonewtons - that compares to top lubricants exerting one nanonewton.

The Nikkei Business Daily reckons that the stuff can be turned into a powder and applied to mechanical parts to extend their active life.
 
using particles that small takes us into a whole new regime of interparticle interactions, forces and phenomenon... I wouldnt doubt that we could see some of this kind of stuff before too long.

even if the particles aggregate/agglomerate, their overall size will be quite small. THe problem will likely be the cost of manufacture of this stuff with good psd. Not to mention that bulk transport, measure, flow of these things can be really tough. Last time I read about fullerenes, they were essentially using arc welders on graphite plates to get a distribution of carbon forms. I think theyll need a better way of production for this to work in a widespread application, as I doubt that separation of these things is a trivial matter.

JMH
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top