G8 Initiative: Nanodiamond-based Nanospacer Lubricants

该NSF奖资助参加G8研究委员会倡议的一个项目的美国研究人员，该项目名为“材料效率跨学科计划--迈向可持续制造的第一步”。这是美国国家科学基金会、加拿大国家科学与工程研究理事会(NSERC)、法国国家科学与工程研究理事会(ANR)、德国联邦科学促进会(DFG)、日本科学促进会(JSPS)、俄罗斯基础研究基金会(RFBR)和英国研究理事会(RCUK)之间的试点合作，支持在竞争基础上选出的由至少三个合作伙伴国家的研究人员组成的合作研究项目。北卡罗来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，作为坚固有效的减摩和抗磨添加剂，将增加各种工业和交通系统的耐用性，并提高交通燃料效率。这项研究的关键内容包括创造稳定的圆形4纳米颗粒胶体悬浮液，通过滚动减少摩擦；测试这些悬浮液在PAO和工业油中的摩擦学性能；通过计算机模拟表征这些结构的稳定性和特性；以及制定工业规模实施的策略。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，能够几乎消除磨损并大幅减少滑动界面的摩擦(5-10倍)。如果在包括内燃机在内的大型机械系统中实现这种程度的摩擦和磨损降低，这些系统的使用寿命和能效将大幅提高，从而减少损坏部件的更换并降低整体制造成本。据估计，如果所有美国车主使用的发动机油只带来0.5%的燃油经济性改善，那么每年总共可以节省3.7亿美元的成本。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减少机油消耗；(3)减少燃料消耗。燃料消耗的减少还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.