G8 Initiative: Nanodiamond-based Nanospacer Lubricants

美国国家科学基金会的这一奖项为参与八国集团研究理事会倡议的“材料效率跨学科项目——迈向可持续制造的第一步”项目的美国研究人员提供资金。这是美国国家科学基金会、加拿大国家科学与工程研究委员会（NSERC）、法国国家研究局（ANR）、德国德国科学促进会（DFG）、日本科学促进会（JSPS）、俄罗斯基础研究基金会（RFBR）和英国研究委员会（RCUK）之间的试点合作。支持在竞争基础上选出的由至少三个伙伴国家的研究人员组成的合作研究项目。北卡罗莱纳州立大学和国际技术中心（美国）、纳米碳研究所（日本）和乌拉尔联邦大学（俄罗斯）将开发一项基于纳米金刚石颗粒的突破性技术，作为坚固有效的抗摩擦和抗磨损添加剂，将增加广泛的工业和运输系统的耐用性，并提高运输燃油效率。该研究的关键要素包括创造稳定的胶体悬浮液，其直径为4纳米，形状为圆形，通过滚动减少摩擦；在PAO和工业用油中测试这些悬浮液的摩擦学性能；通过计算机模拟表征这些结构的稳定性和性能；制定产业规模实施战略。我们团队最近的实验室测试表明，dnd可以作为超硬和光滑的润滑添加剂，几乎可以消除磨损，并大大减少滑动界面的摩擦（5-10倍）。如果在大型机械系统（包括内燃机）中实现这种水平的摩擦和磨损减少，这些系统的使用寿命和能源效率将大大提高，从而导致更换更少的损坏部件，并降低整体制造成本。据估计，如果所有美国车主都使用燃油经济性仅提高0.5%的发动机油，每年将节省3.7亿美元的总成本。因此，目前的项目旨在提供以下全球效益：(1)通过提高滑动机械系统的耐用性来降低制造成本；(2)通过延长润滑剂的使用寿命来降低油耗；(3)降低油耗。燃料消耗的减少也将导致工业和运输系统温室气体排放的减少。

This NSF award funds U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by the G8 Research Councils Initiative "Interdisciplinary Program on Material Efficiency - A first step towards sustainable manufacturing." This is a pilot collaboration among the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Canadian National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), the German Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR),and the United Kingdom Research Councils (RCUK), supporting collaborative research projects selected on a competitive basis that are comprised of researchers from at least three of the partner countries. North Carolina State University and the International Technology Center (U.S.), the NanoCarbon Research Institute (Japan), and the Ural Federal University (Russia) will develop a breakthrough technology based on nanodiamond particles as robust and effective anti-friction and anti-wear additives that will increase the durability of a wide range of industrial and transportation systems as well as enhance transportation fuel efficiency. Key elements of the research include creating stable colloidal suspensions of 4nm particles with a rounded shape that reduce friction by rolling; testing the tribological properties of these suspensions in PAO and industrial oils; characterizing the stability and properties of these structures via computer modeling; and developing a strategy for industrial scale implementation. Recent laboratory tests by our team suggest that DNDs can act as super-hard and slick lubrication additives capable of virtually eliminating wear and drastically reducing friction (5-10 times) of sliding interfaces. If this level of reduction in friction and wear is achieved in large mechanical systems, including combustion engines, the lifetimes and energy efficiency of these systems will increase dramatically, leading to replacement of fewer broken parts and overall lower manufacturing costs. Estimates suggest that if all US car owners used engine oil that produced only a 0.5% fuel economy improvement, the total cost savings would be $370 million per year. Thus the current project is aimed at providing the following global benefits: (i) reduced manufacturing costs through enhanced durability of sliding mechanical systems, (ii) reduced oil consumption through increased lubricant longevity, and (iii) reduced fuel consumption. Reduced fuel consumption will also lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions in industrial and transportation systems.