America’s continued prosperity requires securing the sustainability of our energy use. A cornerstone in achieving this is the improvement of energy efficiency. In the case of manufacturing, improving the sustainability of machining processes relies on the elimination of hazardous waste, while increasing their energy efficiency through, for example, the efficient lubrication of tool/workpiece interfaces. In the case of transportation, the need to enhance engine efficiency is demonstrated by the fact that ~30% of the fuel used in vehicles is employed to overcome friction in the engine, transmission, tires, and brakes. Improved approaches for friction and wear management could also lead to drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The latter is an urgent challenge that requires timely actions to be taken to positively shape our ecosystem in the decades to come. In light of this, the development of low-friction lubricants, such as ionic liquids (ILs), is timely and requires extensive research to be carried out.
Our group is currently evaluating the mechanism(s) behind the attractive lubricating properties of ILs by combining in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), macroscale tribological experiments, and ex situ advanced surface characterization. The research efforts will allow for the identification of the interfacial physical phenomena controlling the friction and wear response of ILs, while providing guidelines for the synthesis of novel ILs with improved lubricating properties.
Relevant publications:
- Li, H. Celio, A. Dolocan, N.A.V. Molina, J. Kershaw, O. Morales-Collazo, J.F. Brennecke, F. Mangolini, Effect of Bromide Content on the Tribological Performance of Phosphonium Phosphate Ionic Liquid at Steel/Steel Interfaces, Applied Surface Science, 570, 151245, 2021
- Li, F. Mangolini, Recent Advances in Nanotribology of Ionic Liquids, Experimental Mechanics, accepted, 2021
- Li, A. Dolocan, O. Morales-Collazo, J.T. Sadowski, H. Celio, R. Chrostowski, J.F. Brennecke, F. Mangolini, Lubrication Mechanism of Phosphonium Phosphate Ionic Liquid in Nanoscale Single-Asperity Contacts, Advanced Materials Interfaces, 7 (17), 2000426, 2020