Abstract
Controllable friction regulation has drawn much interest in both scientific and industrial fields. And there have been many researches on friction regulation by many physical fields and chemical factors. Photo-sensitive materials are promising because it is relatively easy to change their properties compared with others. Here, a new kind of photo-induced grease/oil switched lubricant is designed and shows great reversibility under ultraviolet (UV) and visible (Vis) irradiation. Its viscosity can change more than 50 times under different irradiation, and the coefficients of friction (COFs) obviously increase under Vis irradiation and decrease under UV irradiation, which performs better than those of the common grease. According to the experimental results, the phenomena are contributed to the break and reconstruction of the three-dimensional network inside the lubricant. With a switchable grease/oil state under different irradiation, this work provides a new principle for designing a smart lubricant with controllable friction regulation.
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This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51527901).
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The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. Yu TIAN is the Editorial Board Member of this journal.
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Zheng ZHANG. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2021 from Tsinghua University, China. Then he was a Ph.D. student at State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Tsinghua University, China.
Liran MA. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University, China, in 2005, and received her Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, China, in 2010. Following a postdoctoral period at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, she is now working as an associate professor in State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Tsinghua University, China. Her interests in tribology have ranged from aqueous lubrication and hydration lubrication to the liquid/solid interface properties. She has published over 50 papers. Her work has been cited some 300 times. Her honors include the Hinwin Doctoral Dissertation Award (2011), the Maple Leaf Award for Outstanding Young Iridologists (2015), and Chang Jiang Scholars Program—Young Professor Award (2015).
Yu TIAN. He is currently a professor and director of State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Tsinghua University, China. He earned his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. degree in Tsinghua University, China, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He was a postdoc at University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, with Professor Jacob Israelachvili from 2005 to 2007. His research interests include the science and technology at the junction of physics, materials, engineering, and biology to understand the physical laws of adhesion, friction, and rheology to implement technological inventions for the benefit of society. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal papers. He has received the Ten Thousand People Leading Plan Innovation Leading Talents of China (2019), the Youth Science and Technology Award of China (2016), the Yangtze River Scholars Distinguished Professor (2015–2019), the National Science Found for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (2014), the Wen Shizhu–Maple Award-Young Scholar Award (2012), the Young Scholar Achievement Award of the Society of Mechanical Engineering of China (2011), the Outstanding Young Scholar Award of the Chinese Tribology Institute (2009), and the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China (2004).
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Zhang, Z., Tang, S., Ma, L. et al. Photo-induced grease/oil switched lubricant for friction regulation. Friction (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0775-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0775-1