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Surface functionalized-MoS2 nanofluids as high temperature lubricant additives

Project description

Nanoparticles help industrial machines do their jobs more sustainably

Lubricants are used extensively in industrial applications wherever machines include moving parts that rub against one another. They serve very important multiple functions, by preventing degradation and wear, decreasing maintenance and repair costs, extending the lifetime of parts and machines, and ensuring safe operation. Furthermore, by decreasing the work needed to move the parts, they also reduce energy consumption (think how much easier it is to slide a box across a frozen pond than across the street). The EU-funded SmartLube project is developing a new generation of nanoparticles to be used as additives in lubricant oils for critical high-temperature industrial applications. Enhancing the performance of industrial high-temperature lubricants will have important benefits for the industry and the planet.

Objective

There is an increasing and urgent need in Europe and globally for effective and robust high temperature (HT) lubricant additives in critical industrial applications. Combining synergistically the exceptional oil solubility of organic polymers and the excellent tribological behaviour of MoS2 nanoparticles (NPs), polymer functionalized-MoS2 NPs with good dispersion stability will be designed and synthesized as candidates for HT lubricant additives. In addition, to suppress MoS2 oxidation under HT, which would cause high friction and wear, carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) will be covalently combined with MoS2 NPs to improve the retention of MoS2 on the frictional surfaces and prevent oxidation during rubbing. In this project, MoS2 NPs will be functionalized by two methods: 1) Immobilization of organic polymer on the surface of MoS2 NPs using non-covalent and covalent approaches. The organic polymers including oil-soluble poly-(lauryl methacrylate) (PLMA), polyalkylene glycol (PEG), and hyperbranched poly(3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyloxetane) PEHO; 2) MoS2 NPs growing on the surface of organic polymer modified-CNMs with covalent bonds. The polymers connecting CNMs and MoS2 NPs are novel PEHO and PEG derivatives with lipoic acid (LA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) terminals. The properties of the grafted polymers on MoS2 NPs and CNMs will be analyzed. The dispersion stability of surface functionalization MoS2 NPs will be assessed by SAXS/SANS, as well as cryo-TEM, SEM, DLS, and ξ- potential measurements. The surface force apparatus (SFA) will be used for mechanistic understanding of how such NPs mediate friction, with the macroscopic HT tribological properties of the NP dispersions investigated using tribometer. The correlation between the NP physicochemical properties and their efficacy in lubrication will be assessed. The wear mechanism of surface functionalized-MoS2 NPs as friction reduction and antiwear (AW) additives in lubricating oils will be explored by XPS and SEM-EDS.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 224 933,76
Address
BEACON HOUSE QUEENS ROAD
BS8 1QU BRISTOL
United Kingdom

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Region
South West (England) Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area Bristol, City of
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 224 933,76
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