Friction and wear between moving parts contribute significantly to the world's energy consumption. The SSLiP (Scaling up Superlubricity into Persistence) project is focused on advancing the field of superlubricity and its practical applications. Superlubricity is a state in which friction between two surfaces is almost eliminated (friction coefficient less than 0.01) resulting in exceptional efficiency, reduced wear, and extended component lifespan. The SSLiP project aims to scale up and integrate superlubricity into real-world systems, opening new possibilities in diverse industries. To address this challenge, SSLiP proposes a novel approach that utilizes the concept of structural superlubricity, which occurs at a lattice misfit between clean, flat, rigid crystalline surfaces, resulting in extremely low friction. However, this effect has only been observed in the micrometre scale and laboratory times.
To bring this concept to the macroscale and enable real-life applications, SSLiP will use tribo-colloids, which are colloidal particles coated with 2D materials and micro-structured surfaces coated with 2D materials. These two approached produce a dynamic network of superlubric contacts and static superlubric micro contacts respectively, replicating the low friction effect on larger length scales. The team will also develop regenerative tribochemical and structural mechanisms to overcome the inherent degradation and failure modes of these contacts. Through careful design of the coatings, carrier fluid, and mechanical properties of the core particles, the sliding chemistry and collective behaviour of these systems can be controlled. The team will synthesize and experiment with individual contacts, visualize colloid dynamics during sliding, and characterize the chemical properties in-situ. These experiments are combined with multiscale simulations and theory to develop a coherent framework.
From our work in RP2 we have supported our candidate contact network systems with the following select highlights:
1. Advanced, scalable fabrication of meso-scale patterned superlubricious, functionalized surfaces based on PyC and PPF 2D-like pyrolyzed carbon
2. Single asperity superlubricious contact theoretical modelling and experimental characterization
3.Testing and simulation of functionalize, patterned surfaces
4. Visualization, testing and simulation of tribocolloid population contact networks
