Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 11 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5715, pp. 1612 - 1615
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107895
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Molecular Mechanisms for the Functionality of Lubricant Additives

Nicholas J. Mosey,1 Martin H. Müser,2* Tom K. Woo1

Wear limits the life-span of many mechanical devices with moving parts. To reduce wear, lubricants are frequently enriched with additives, such as zinc phosphates, that form protective films on rubbing surfaces. Using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of films derived from commercial additives, we unraveled the molecular origin of how antiwear films can form, function, and dissipate energy. These effects originate from pressure-induced changes in the coordination number of atoms acting as cross-linking agents to form chemically connected networks. The proposed mechanism explains a diverse body of experiments and promises to prove useful in the rational design of antiwear additives that operate on a wider range of surface materials, with reduced environmental side effects.

1 Department of Chemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B7.
2 Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B7.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mmuser{at}uwo.ca

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Friction between solids.
J. A Harrison, G. Gao, J.D. Schall, M. T. Knippenberg, and P. T Mikulski (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc A 366, 1469-1495
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)