MCA: Friction of Nanocrystals at Technologically Relevant Speeds: Filling the Gap of Knowledge in Nanotribology

这项拨款将使一种复杂的技术的发展，以确定在最相关的工业应用，如齿轮和轴承的速度个别纳米晶体的摩擦。由于滑动表面之间的接触可以建模为纳米级接触的集合，该项目对于推进摩擦减少技术至关重要。该项目将促进国家的繁荣，因为摩擦和磨损估计每年花费高达GDP的1.6%，相当于美国的3000多亿美元。这笔赠款还将使中学教师培训计划的发展，以培养他们的科学探究，解决问题，并赞赏经验工作的复杂性，所有这些对于学生在大学水平的科学中取得成功至关重要。开发的技术将确定单个纳米晶体的摩擦力在1毫米/秒到1米/秒之间。通过将石英晶体微量天平与扫描隧道和原子力显微镜相结合，实现了秒的测量。将确定单个纳米晶体的摩擦作为1至10，000 nm 2接触面积的函数，以建立与应用最相关的速度下纳米级摩擦的基本物理学。合作伙伴进行的计算将加强这些结果的影响。该项目将通过直接将测量的耗散信号与纳米级摩擦连接来验证通常使用石英晶体微量天平的摩擦测量。因此，该项目将对纳米摩擦学的纳米力学的进步产生广泛的科学影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This grant will enable the development of a sophisticated technique to determine friction of individual nanocrystals at the speeds most relevant for industrial applications such as gears and bearings. Since contacts between sliding surfaces can be modeled as an ensemble of nanoscale contacts, the project is critical for advancing friction reduction technologies. This project will advance the national prosperity since friction and wear are estimated to cost up to 1.6 percent of the GDP per year, corresponding to over $300 billion for the United States. This grant will also enable the development of a middle-school teacher training program to prepare them to foster scientific inquiry, problem solving, and appreciation for the complexity of empirical work, all critical for success of students in college-level sciences.The developed technique will determine friction of individual nanocrystals between 1 mm/sec to 1 m/sec by integrating the quartz crystal microbalance with scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy. The friction of individual nanocrystals as a function of contact area from 1 to 10,000 nm2 will be determined to establish the fundamental physics of nanoscale friction at the speeds most relevant for applications. Calculations performed by the collaborative partner will strengthen the impact of these results. This project will validate friction measurements using quartz crystal microbalances in general by directly connecting the measured dissipation signals with nanoscale friction. As such, this project will have a broad scientific impact to the advancement of the nanomechanics of nanoscale tribology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.