Graphical Abstract
![](https://wqketang.oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/zip-unzip/zip-2ea4facc-15f2-4a96-b1bc-f4ce9f6acac2/friction-12-9-1980/files/friction-12-9-1980-FE1.jpg?Expires=1725757757&OSSAccessKeyId=STS.NT5eViCkqzTYdbfdqxMkjpyyq&Signature=5uZn6OzYGdUmLdTJwv1U%2Bmw2aHQ%3D&security-token=CAISywJ1q6Ft5B2yfSjIr5eALuzdrrRQzZayZkTXgHEtQeRGn7zSkzz2IHtKenhsBOsbtfk1mG5W5%2FgZlqJ9SptIAEfJa9d99MzUP%2FpFltCT1fau5Jko1beHewHKeTOZsebWZ%2BLmNqC%2FHt6md1HDkAJq3LL%2Bbk%2FMdle5MJqP%2B%2FUFB5ZtKWveVzddA8pMLQZPsdITMWCrVcygKRn3mGHdfiEK00he8TouufTinpHMskGA1Aell7Mvyt6vcsT%2BXa5FJ4xiVtq55utye5fa3TRYgxowr%2Fwo0v0YpGya5YzHXwcPskvdKZbo78UqLQlla6w%2BGqFJqvPxr%2Fp8t%2Fx5fWJKAezhVgs8cVM8JOjIqKOscIsiJsO71SmqFV55c8Fdm%2BgUooJVgIMhTnduUfAPJAGOxzJitP%2BUVGGphr60TEnBL4rB5MUctfzRp75SXVPUTzDnGoABjuNLcf76FQN6p3t%2BSlCg%2FxR5C72RIk78k%2BUi44L9ZBmFT6F8GV7aXA52D1Ps56knKF6PAnhRivwyTxgsolycBfvccb3t5jGJ24SgY0aYosAECutxAo7sJhSwlwZvGwGDZJsop1vGiZ8eN1MbtZeRRuMeaZ2I%2BQo%2BnVP6Cf%2F0pDsgAA%3D%3D)
Discover the SciOpen Platform and Achieve Your Research Goals with Ease.
Friction remains as the primary mode of energy dissipation and components wear, and achieving superlubricity shows high promise in energy conservation and lifetime wear protection. The results in this work demonstrate that direct superlubricity combined with superlow wear can be realized for steel/Si3N4 contacts on engineering scale when polyhydroxy alcohol solution was selectively modified by amino group. Macroscopic direct superlubricity occurs because 3-amino-1,2-propanediol molecules at the friction interface could be induced to rotate and adsorb vertically on the friction surface, forming in-situ thick and dense molecular films to passivate the asperity contacts. Furthermore, amino modification is also conducive to improving the lubrication state from boundary to mixed lubrication regime by strengthening the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interaction, presenting enhanced load-bearing capability and reduced direct solid asperity contacts. Thus, direct superlow average friction of 0.01 combined with superlow wear are achieved simultaneously. The design principle of direct superlubricity and superlow wear in this work indeed offers an effective strategy to fundamentally improve energy efficiency and provide lifetime wear protection for moving mechanical assemblies.
Hod O, Meyer E, Zheng Q S, Urbakh M. Structural superlubricity and ultralow friction across the length scales. Nature 563(7732): 485–492 (2018)
Berman D, Deshmukh S A, Sankaranarayanan S K R S, Erdemir A, Sumant A V. Macroscale superlubricity enabled by graphene nanoscroll formation. Science 348(6239): 1118–1122 (2015)
Li J J, Gao T Y, Luo J B. Graphene nanoflakes: Superlubricity of graphite induced by multiple transferred graphene nanoflakes. Adv Sci 5(3): 1700616 (2018)
Wang J, Cao W, Song Y M, Qu C Y, Zheng Q S, Ma M. Generalized scaling law of structural superlubricity. Nano Lett 19(11): 7735–7741 (2019)
Luo J B, Liu M, Ma L R. Origin of friction and the new frictionless technology—Superlubricity: Advancements and future outlook. Nano Energy 86: 106092 (2021)
Baykara M Z, Vazirisereshk M R, Martini A. Emerging superlubricity: A review of the state of the art and perspectives on future research. Appl Phys Rev 5(4): 041102 (2018)
Song Y M, Qu C Y, Ma M, Zheng Q S. Structural superlubricity based on crystalline materials. Small 16(15): 1903018 (2020)
Shi S, Guo D, Luo J B. Micro/atomic-scale vibration induced superlubricity. Friction 9(5): 1163–1174 (2021)
Li J F, Li J J, Yi S, Wang K Q. Boundary slip of oil molecules at MoS2 homojunctions governing superlubricity. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 14(6): 8644–8653 (2022)
Zheng Z W, Liu X L, Huang G W, Chen H J, Yu H X, Feng D P, Qiao D. Macroscale superlubricity achieved via hydroxylated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets with ionic liquid at steel/steel interface. Friction 10(9): 1365–1381 (2022)
Liang H Y, Yin T Q, Liu M Q, Fu C H, Xia X J, Zou S J, Hua X J, Fu Y H, Bu Y F. Unravelling high-load superlubricity of ionic liquid analogues by in situ Raman: Incomplete hydration induced by competitive exchange of external water with crystalline water. J Phys Chem Lett 14(2): 453–459 (2023)
Ge X Y, Li J J, Zhang C H, Luo J B. Liquid superlubricity of polyethylene glycol aqueous solution achieved with boric acid additive. Langmuir 34(12): 3578–3587 (2018)
Han T Y, Zhang C H, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity enabled by hydrated alkali metal ions. Langmuir 34(38): 11281–11291 (2018)
Liu W R, Wang H D, Liu Y H, Li J J, Erdemir A, Luo J B. Mechanism of superlubricity conversion with polyalkylene glycol aqueous solutions. Langmuir 35(36): 11784–11790 (2019)
Ge X Y, Li J J, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity achieved with various liquid molecules: A review. Front Mech Eng 5: 2 (2019)
Reddyhoff T, Ewen J P, Deshpande P, Frogley M D, Welch M D, Montgomery W. Macroscale superlubricity and polymorphism of long-chain n-alcohols. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 13(7): 9239–9251 (2021)
Ren X Y, Yang X, Xie G X, Luo J B. Black phosphorus quantum dots in aqueous ethylene glycol for macroscale superlubricity. ACS Appl Nano Mater 3(5): 4799–4809 (2020)
Ge X Y, Li J J, Zhang C H, Liu Y H, Luo J B. Superlubricity and antiwear properties of in situ-formed ionic liquids at ceramic interfaces induced by tribochemical reactions. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 11(6): 6568–6574 (2019)
Adibnia V, Olszewski M, De Crescenzo G, Matyjaszewski K, Banquy X. Superlubricity of zwitterionic bottlebrush polymers in the presence of multivalent ions. J Am Chem Soc 142(35): 14843–14847 (2020)
Han T Y, Zhang S W, Zhang C H. Unlocking the secrets behind liquid superlubricity: A state-of-the-art review on phenomena and mechanisms. Friction 10(8): 1137–1165 (2022)
Wang H D, Liu Y H. Superlubricity achieved with two-dimensional nano-additives to liquid lubricants. Friction 8(6): 1007–1024 (2020)
Wang K, Liu L, Liu Y, Luo J. Simple but effective: Liquid superlubricity with high load capacity achieved by ionic liquids. Mater Today Nano 20: 100257 (2022)
Chen X C, Li J J. Superlubricity of carbon nanostructures. Carbon 158: 1–23 (2020)
Zhai W Z, Zhou K. Nanomaterials in superlubricity. Adv Funct Materials 29(28): 1806395 (2019)
Ge X Y, Li J J, Luo R, Zhang C H, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity enabled by the synergy effect of graphene-oxide nanoflakes and ethanediol. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10(47): 40863–40870 (2018)
Wang W, Xie G X, Luo J B. Superlubricity of black phosphorus as lubricant additive. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10(49): 43203–43210 (2018)
Ge X Y, Li J J, Wang H D, Zhang C H, Liu Y H, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity under extreme pressure enabled by the combination of graphene-oxide nanosheets with ionic liquid. Carbon 151: 76–83 (2019)
Liu Y, Yu S, Li J, Ge X, Zhao Z, Wang W. Quantum dots of graphene oxide as nano-additives trigger macroscale superlubricity with an extremely short running-in period. Mater Today Nano 18: 100219 (2022)
Tang G B, Wu Z B, Su F H, Wang H D, Xu X, Li Q, Ma G Z, Chu P K. Macroscale superlubricity on engineering steel in the presence of black phosphorus. Nano Lett 21(12): 5308–5315 (2021)
Kuwahara T, Romero P A, Makowski S, Weihnacht V, Moras G, Moseler M. Mechano-chemical decomposition of organic friction modifiers with multiple reactive centres induces superlubricity of ta-C. Nat Commun 10: 151 (2019)
Ma Q, He T, Khan A M, Wang Q, Chung Y W. Achieving macroscale liquid superlubricity using glycerol aqueous solutions. Tribol Int 160: 107006 (2021)
Li J J, Zhang C H, Ma L R, Liu Y H, Luo J B. Superlubricity achieved with mixtures of acids and glycerol. Langmuir 29(1): 271–275 (2013)
Al Zubaidi I, Jones R, Alzughaibi M, Albayyadhi M, Darzi F, Ibrahim H. Crude glycerol as an innovative corrosion inhibitor. Appl Syst Innov 1(2): 12 (2018)
Ganeshan K, Shin Y K, Osti N C, Sun Y, Prenger K, Naguib M, Tyagi M, Mamontov E, Jiang D E, van Duin A C T. Structure and dynamics of aqueous electrolytes confined in 2D-TiO2/Ti3C2T2 MXene heterostructures. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 12(52): 58378–58389 (2020)
Humphrey W, Dalke A, Schulten K. VMD: Visual molecular dynamics. J Mol Graph 14(1): 33–38 (1996)
Shi Y, Zhao C H, Chen X, Chen C T, Zhou X, Chen J H. DFT study on the electronic structure and optical properties of an Au-deposited α-Fe2O3(001) surface. RSC Adv 12(9): 5447–5457 (2022)
Lyu Z K, Niu S L, Lu C M, Zhao G J, Gong Z Q, Zhu Y. A density functional theory study on the selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH3 reactivity of α-Fe2O3 (001) catalyst doped by Mn, Ti, Cr and Ni. Fuel 267: 117147 (2020)
Chen Z, Liu Y H, Zhang S H, Luo J B. Controllable superlubricity of glycerol solution via environment humidity. Langmuir 29(38): 11924–11930 (2013)
Long Y, De Barros Bouchet M I, Lubrecht T, Onodera T, Martin J M. Superlubricity of glycerol by self-sustained chemical polishing. Sci Rep 9: 6286 (2019)
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.