Maxing out mechanical and tribological properties of MXene solid lubricants (MAX-METRIB)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Volker Presser
• Subject Area: Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 544839022

Saving energy by making mechanical system more efficient is inevitable for reducing emissions and, thus for reaching our climate goals and contribute to a more sustainable future. One of the key points in designing more efficient systems is to reduce friction and wear by employing new lubricant technologies. In the last two decades, layered materials, so-called two-dimensional (2D) materials have been heavily researched as solid lubricant materials and have partially demonstrated extreme reduction in friction and wear. This can be mainly traced back to their easy-to-shear properties where the individual layers can slide easily against each other (like a deck of cards) and the formation of protecting tribolayers. However, to improve their applicability in particular the mechanisms responsible for their outstanding tribological performance have to be better understood. One of the newest members of the class of 2D materials is MXene, which are 2D carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides. We expect that they can help unravelling the tribological mechanisms of 2D materials since they are a highly tunable family of 2D materials. The versatility of MXenes in composition, layer thickness, layer number, and surface terminations make them ideal model materials to study the influence of these parameters on tribological behavior. In the present proposal several MXenes will be synthesized in a controlled manner, thereby also creating a tailored surface chemistry. Solid lubricant coatings are to be fabricated by spray coating and blade coating. Particularly their tribological performance will be tested under a variety of different operation conditions, such as temperature and load. A systematic characterization in state-of-the-art facilities in combination with advanced material characterization techniques will allow for cross-correlating MXenes’ structural parameters with their mechanical and tribological properties. A detailed understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the tribological performance of 2D materials facilitates to tune and adapt lubricants with respect to the operating conditions. Therefore, the knowledge gained in this study represents an important step forward in developing new lubricant technologies based on 2D materials, which is necessary to create highly efficient and sustainable systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Partner Organisation: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr.-Ing. Carsten Gachot