US EPA

3860615 

Journal Article 

Nanoscale Boundary Lubrication Studies 

Bhushan, B 

2011 

461-530 

10.1007/978-3-642-15263-4_19 

WOS:000292936800008 

Boundary films are formed by physisorption, chemisorption, and chemical reaction. A good boundary lubricant should have a high degree of interaction between its molecules and the solid surface. As a general rule, liquids are good lubricants when they are polar and thus able to grip solid surfaces (or be adsorbed). In this chapter, we focus on various perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) and ionic liquid films. We present a summary of nanodeformation, molecular conformation, and lubricant spreading studies, followed by an overview of the nanotribological properties of polar and nonpolar PFPEs and ionic liquid films studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and chemical degradation studies using a high-vacuum tribotest apparatus. In this chapter, we focus on PFPE and ionic liquid films. We first present a summary of nanodeformation, molecular conformation, and lubricant spreading studies and an overview of nanotribological and electrical studies of commonly used polar and nonpolar PFPE and ionic liquid films using AFM and chemical degradation studies using a high-vacuum tribotest apparatus.