Superlubricity: Toward Design of Zero-Friction and Zero-Wear Materials

Friction and wear-related failures remain the greatest problems in today's moving mechanical components, from microelectromechanical devices to automotive assemblies and to biological systems. The critical need to reduce and eliminate the tribological failures constitutes the necessity for continuous search of novel materials and lubrication solutions. In this presentation, we overview recent advances in establishing the fundamental understanding of materials interactions at sliding interfaces and use this knowledge as a guide to developing nanomaterials solutions that enhance reliability and efficiency of tribological systems. We evaluate tribological performance of 2D materials, including graphene, molybdenum disulfide, and MXene, and demonstrate realization of superlubricity regime at macroscale. To extend the lifetime of the tribological materials, we demonstrate tribochemically-driven self-replenishment of materials inside the contact interfaces, thus enabling a zero-wear sliding regime. Overall, the findings have not only allowed us to solve some long-standing puzzles, but could also open a new avenue for the development of new concepts and design strategies for next generation of tribologically efficient materials systems.