Friction is an inherent problem in moving parts for the machine industry. Reducing friction could save major costs relating to working with machines and also the fuel used.
A research paper found friction consumes about one-fifth of total energy generated in the world annually and damage caused by friction in machinery represents up to about 4% of industrialized economies’s GDP.
In addition, passenger vehicles also waste about 30% of their fuel to overcome friction.
A research team at New York’s SUNY Polytechnic Institute focused on a concept known as “superlubricty”, a condition of near-zero friction between two moving, dry materials in contact with each other.
Last year, scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory also invented a superlubricity coating that reduces the friction of steel rubbing at least 100-fold. Working as a lubricant reservoir, the coating is made of carbon nanotubes reducing the coefficient of friction to as low as 0.001.
Although superlubricious behavior was only seen previously between super-small particles at the nanoscale, the researchers showed that the phenomenon also occurred at the macroscale.
To achieve this, they deposited carbon from cassava plants and put it onto metal surfaces through a low-cost high-temperature biowaste treatment process.
When carbon is already bonded to the metal, a graphene layer is made. Graphene is a material consisting of carbon atoms that are going to fill in the grooves caused by wear. As a result, graphene-only contact points were created to protect the metal beneath.
In experiments, when the carbon bonded to steel and nickel substrates, it led to a virtually frictionless state that efficiently remained in normal conditions for about 150,000 cycles.
By virtually eliminating friction in metal parts, the coating made from the biowaste of cassava plants has shown its potential to deliver better fuel economy and extend the life of machine parts. Since then, research also shows it reduces maintenance and replacement costs, delivering enormous savings in a myriad of industries.
According to the postdoctoral researcher Tabiri Kwayie Asumadu, one of the scientists contributing to this research, he believes this breakthrough could impact most industries and create a more sustainable industrial future.
Article Source: SUNY Polytechnic Institute & Applied Materials Today
Image by MustangJoe from Pixabay
