Subject: Slicker than you know what- R&T; Feb. 99
Of possible interest from the Feb issue of Road & Track; Tech Tidbits
column:
Researchers at the Argonne National Lab, Argonne, Illinois, have
developed what they call NFC, near-frictionless carbon, a material
that's 20 times slicker than the previous record holder, molybdenum
disulfide. What's more, it offers extremely low wear rates, several
orders of magnitude better than those of other low-friction materials.
The NFC is deposited as a film atop any sort of substructure, metal,
ceramic or polymer. The process takes place at room temperature; varying
thicknesses can be applied.
In quantifying NFC properties, Argonne researchers note that
well-lubricated steel gives a friction coefficient of around 0.12;
without the oil film, this soars to 0.8. By contrast, NFC running dry in
air exhibits friction coefficients in the range of 0.02-0.06.
In a super-clean environmemt of dry nitrogen or argon, NFC friction
falls to 0.001 or less. Moly disulfide, PTFE (Teflon), diamond-like
carbon films or natural diamonds exhibit friction coeeficients of
0.02-0.015 under the same test conditions.
Argonne is working with several companies to develope these coatings for
automobile engines. More information can be had at
http://www.anl.gov/OPA/news97/lowfriction.htm
Cullen Bennett
Tempe, Arizona USA
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