SBIR Phase II: Flat ceramic nanoparticles with two functionally different surfaces for self-generating coatings: Scale-UP

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是一种用于改善现有机械性能的新产品。如果该项目取得成功，许多工业和商业应用将受益于部件寿命的延长和机械的更有效运行，以及劳动力和能源的节省。从社会的角度来看，这项技术有可能节省发电机和发动机等无处不在的部件因摩擦而损失的大量能量的很大一部分，同时减少与磨损相关的材料/部件故障和相关的停机成本。先前的研究已经预测，在现有的交通系统中成功地应用所提出的技术将使绝对的能源节约超过目前部署的所有光伏、地热和生物质能源的总和。该项目将专注于进一步开发和扩大具有结构不同侧面的陶瓷纳米片（粘性/光滑），其将用于形成自生摩擦学薄膜涂层以改善润滑。 该涂层在正常操作期间逐颗粒形成。这些低摩擦摩擦涂层的产生以前已经观察到，但需要进一步优化的鲁棒性和额外的工程和商业应用的测试。了解成分和表面掺杂剂的影响是市场应用所产生的，几乎无摩擦的涂层。 为了商业可行性，需要进行额外的材料测试和成功扩大这些纳米片的生产规模。 这些各向异性纳米结构的后续应用设想在催化剂载体，塑料填料和智能材料领域。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is a new product for improving the performance of existing machinery. If this project is successful, numerous industrial and commercial applications will benefit from increased component longevity and more efficient operation of machinery, coupled with labor and energy savings. From a societal perspective, this technology has the potential to save a large portion of the substantial amount of energy lost to friction in ubiquitous components such as generators and engines, while simultaneously reducing wear-related material/component failures and associated downtime costs. Previous research has predicted that a successful global application of the proposed technology in existing transportation systems will enable an absolute energy savings that exceeds the total energy generated by all currently-deployed photovoltaic, geothermal, and biomass sources combined.This project will focus on the further development and scale-up of ceramic nanosheets with structurally different sides (sticky/slick), which will be used to form a self-generating tribological thin film coating for improved lubrication. This coating is formed during normal operation, particle by particle. The creation of these low-friction tribological coatings has been previously observed but requires further optimization for robustness and additional engineering and testing for commercial applications. Understanding the influence of composition and surface dopants is required for market application of the resulting, nearly frictionless coatings. Additional material testing and successful scale-up of the production of these nanosheets are needed for commercial viability. Follow-on applications of these anisotropic nanostructures are envisioned in the areas of catalyst supports, plastic fillers, and smart materials.