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Friction 2019, 7(4): 372-387 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0287-1
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 04 June 2019

Molecular behaviors in thin film lubrication—Part one: Film formation for different polarities of molecules

Show Author's Information Shaohua ZHANG1,2,  Yijun QIAO1,  Yuhong LIU1( ),  Liran MA1,  Jianbin LUO1( )
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Long-life Technology of Precise Rotation and Transmission Mechanisms, Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, Beijing 100094, China
Keywords:
thin film lubrication, in situ Raman spectroscopy, molecular distribution, molecular orientation
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ZHANG S, QIAO Y, LIU Y, et al. Molecular behaviors in thin film lubrication—Part one: Film formation for different polarities of molecules. Friction, 2019, 7(4): 372-387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0287-1
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Abstract Full text About this article

There are three unsolved problems in thin film lubrication (TFL) since it was proposed 20 years ago, i.e., the determination of the type of molecules that can enter the contact region efficiently during sliding, the orientation of molecules in the contact region, and the effect of solid surfaces on the liquid molecular orientation in TFL. In order to answer the first two questions, an in situ measurement system comprising a self-designed Raman microscopy and relative optical interference intensity (ROII) system was set up to study the molecular behaviors. A variety of binary mixtures were used as lubricants in the test, and the concentration distribution profile and orientation of the additive molecules in TFL were characterized. The molecular behavior was determined via a combination of shearing, confinement, and surface adsorption. Furthermore, the difference in molecular polarity resulted in different competing effect of surface adsorption and intermolecular interaction, the influence of which on molecular behavior was discussed. Polar additive molecules interacted with the steel surface and exhibited an enrichment effect in the Hertz contact region when added into a nonpolar base oil. No enrichment effect was observed for nonpolar molecules that were added into the nonpolar base oil and polar molecules added into polar base oil. The enrichment of additive molecules enhanced the film-forming ability of the lubricant and resulted in a reduction in the friction coefficient of up to 61%. The orderly arrangement of the additive molecules was another reason for the friction-reducing. A binary multilayer model was proposed to illuminate the molecular behavior in the TFL, and the model was supported by contrary experiment results in elastohydrodynamic lubrication. This research may aid in understanding the nanoscale lubrication mechanism in TFL and the development of novel liquid lubricants.


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About this article

Molecular behaviors in thin film lubrication—Part one: Film formation for different polarities of molecules

Show Author's information Shaohua ZHANG1,2, Yijun QIAO1, Yuhong LIU1( ), Liran MA1, Jianbin LUO1( )
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Long-life Technology of Precise Rotation and Transmission Mechanisms, Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, Beijing 100094, China

Abstract

There are three unsolved problems in thin film lubrication (TFL) since it was proposed 20 years ago, i.e., the determination of the type of molecules that can enter the contact region efficiently during sliding, the orientation of molecules in the contact region, and the effect of solid surfaces on the liquid molecular orientation in TFL. In order to answer the first two questions, an in situ measurement system comprising a self-designed Raman microscopy and relative optical interference intensity (ROII) system was set up to study the molecular behaviors. A variety of binary mixtures were used as lubricants in the test, and the concentration distribution profile and orientation of the additive molecules in TFL were characterized. The molecular behavior was determined via a combination of shearing, confinement, and surface adsorption. Furthermore, the difference in molecular polarity resulted in different competing effect of surface adsorption and intermolecular interaction, the influence of which on molecular behavior was discussed. Polar additive molecules interacted with the steel surface and exhibited an enrichment effect in the Hertz contact region when added into a nonpolar base oil. No enrichment effect was observed for nonpolar molecules that were added into the nonpolar base oil and polar molecules added into polar base oil. The enrichment of additive molecules enhanced the film-forming ability of the lubricant and resulted in a reduction in the friction coefficient of up to 61%. The orderly arrangement of the additive molecules was another reason for the friction-reducing. A binary multilayer model was proposed to illuminate the molecular behavior in the TFL, and the model was supported by contrary experiment results in elastohydrodynamic lubrication. This research may aid in understanding the nanoscale lubrication mechanism in TFL and the development of novel liquid lubricants.

Keywords: thin film lubrication, in situ Raman spectroscopy, molecular distribution, molecular orientation

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 29 August 2018
Revised: 28 January 2019
Accepted: 07 March 2019
Published: 04 June 2019
Issue date: August 2019

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© The author(s) 2019

Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51875303 and No. 51527901).

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