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GREENCOAT

Green high-performance and low-friction interfaces tailored by the reactivity of novel DLC coatings and ionic liquids

logos-greencoat

Project number

4153

Starting Date

01-08-2017

Duration

36 Months

Call identifier

M-ERA.NET Call 2016

The GreenCOAT project is about designing a green DLC coating for contact interfaces based on a new DLC deposition technology that is tailored for harmless ionic-liquid lubrication. Only such a technology will be able to satisfy the strict legislation about the environment and greenhouse-gas emissions, and as such it is simply indispensable for heavily loaded, mechanical components that require lubrication in transport and industrial systems. This is particularly related to those systems operating in nature, like fluid-power hydraulics machinery in wind and off-shore energy, marine systems, bioenergy from forests, geothermal energy, mining, agriculture, etc. Existing UN, EU and national emission regulations are already affecting the performance of some modern machinery, and as these restrictions become tighter, a number of lubricants with regulated additives will have to be abandoned.

Without new green lubrication solutions, the performance of machinery will deteriorate, reducing operating lifetimes, shortening maintenance intervals, wasting materials, and generating higher energy losses, all leading to large-scale technical and economic consequences for the EU. This urgent need to replace the current technology means the development of high-performance green lubrication is one of Europe’s most urgent priorities.

OBJECTIVES

i-1

Scientific

Doped (Ag, W) and tailored DLC coatings via HiPIMS deposition for greatly improved reactivity with green IL additives. A new fundamental understanding of the tribological formation/removal of the adsorbed IL films on DLC coatings, their adsorption and chemical nature, as well as electrochemical and tribo-corrosion property will be developed. This is largely absent from the literature.

i-2

Technological

A highly industry-relevant nano-scale engineered boundary film interface design based on green-lubrication technology and advanced HiPIMS DLC deposition, applicable in fluid-power hydraulics machinery, as well as the automotive and other industrial sectors.

i-3

Socio-economic

A step-change in green lubrication and contact engineering, with a direct impact on greenhouse-gas emissions, pollution, hazardous materials, saving resources, reduced maintenance and therefore on economic and social aspects.

WORK PACKAGES

WP1

Selection and production of materials, lubrificants and samples preparation

WP2

Neutron reflectometry in-situtribo-adsorption

WP3

E-QCM adsorption kinetics

WP4

Macro-contact lubrification performance

WP5

Tribocorrosion interactions for the DLC-IL interface

WP6

Nanoscale-resolved characterisation of surfaces and absorbed boundary films

WP7

Adsorption mechanisms

WP8

Lubrification mechanisms with interface design and real scale validation

WP9

Management

WP10

Exploitation and dissemination

MILESTONES

M1

M1.1 — Selected doping materials, concentrations and DLC coatings properties

M1.2 — Selected base oils and ionic liquids as additives

M1.5 — Defining samples properties and geometry for use in different fundamental tests.

M1.3 — Defined various concentrations for each IL with appropriate solubility in base oils

M1.4 — Purchasing commercial materials: base oils, ZDDP and deuterated molecules

M2

M3.1 — Defined and prepared E-QCM testing conditions, method and procedures

M3.2 — Performed E-QCM adsorption test under static conditions for different DLCs

M2.3 — Determination of thickness and density of the adsorbed IL layers (tribolayers) from NR experime4nts on various DLCs

M3

M2.1 — Design of tribo-testes for in-situ adsorption in NR test at AMOR (PSI)

M2.2 — Definition of testing conditions for in-situ NR

M3.3 — Understood adsorption kinetics of IL layers under static conditions

M4

M4.1 — Defined and prepared tribo-testing conditions, methods and procedures

M4.2 — Performed tribo tests for DLC-IL combinations under selected conditions

M4.3 — Evaluated tribological data in terms of wear and friction, as well as a consequent efficiency of the selected interfaces

M5

M5.1 — Defined and prepared tribocorrosion testing conditions and procedures.

M5.2 — Performed tribocorrosion tests for selected ILs and metals

M5.3 — Performed tribocorrosion tests for selected ILs and DLCs

M5.4 — Evaluated tribocorrosion data

M6

M6.1 — DLC coatings characterisation on different samples

M6.2 — Tribofilms characterisation of tested samples

M7

M7.1 — Determining the adsorption mechanisms for various DLC-IL combinations

M7.2 — Determining the most strongly adsorbed boundary films in DLC-IL combinations

M8

M8.1 — Summarizing findings from analyses performed in previous WPs

M8.2 — Revealing the lubrication mechanisms for each DLC-IL combination and comparison to SOTA additives

M8.3 — Optimised nano-engineering DLC-IL interface

M8.4 — Performing validation test and basec optimisation for the best performing DLC-IL interface

PARTNERS

Laboratory for
tribology and interface
nanotechnology

University of Ljubljana,  Slovenia

Laboratory for Wear,
Testing & Materials

Instituto Pedro Nunes, Coimbra, Portugal

Norwegian University
of Science and Technoloy

Trondheim, Norway

EVENTS

NEWS

SCIENTIFIC WORKS

Article

Room and High Temperature Tribological Behaviour of W-DLC Coatings Produced by DCMS and Hybrid DCMS-HiPIMS Configuration

Article

Physicochemical and tribological characterizations of WDLC coatings and ionic-liquid lubricant additives: Potential candidates for low friction under boundary-lubrication conditions

Article

Role of Au incorporation in the electrochemical behavior of Ag/a:C nanocomposite coatings

CONTACTS

Univ. of Ljubljana, Laboratory for tribology and interface nanotechnology

Prof. Dr. Mitjan kalin

Instituto Pedro Nunes

Prof. Dr. Albano Cavaleiro

Norwegian university of Science and Technoloy

Prof. Dr. Nuria Espallargas