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Boundary lubrication under water

Nature volume 444, pages 191–194 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Boundary lubrication, in which the rubbing surfaces are coated with molecular monolayers, has been studied extensively for over half a century1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Such monolayers generally consist of amphiphilic surfactants anchored by their polar headgroups; sliding occurs at the interface between the layers, greatly reducing friction and especially wear of the underlying substrates. This process, widespread in engineering applications, is also predicted to occur in biological lubrication via phospholipid films8,9, though few systematic studies on friction between surfactant layers in aqueous environments have been carried out5,10. Here we show that the frictional stress between two sliding surfaces bearing surfactant monolayers may decrease, when immersed in water, to as little as one per cent or less of its value in air (or oil). We attribute this to the shift of the slip plane from between the surfactant layers, to the surfactant/substrate interface. The low friction would then be due to the fluid hydration layers surrounding the polar head groups attached to the substrate. These results may have implications for future technological and biomedical applications.

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Figure 1: Normal interactions F⊥/R between DDunAB-coated crossed-cylindrical mica surfaces (radius of curvature R is ∼1 cm), as a function of closest separation D.
Figure 2: Characteristics of measured friction between two DDunAB-coated surfaces in adhesive contact.
Figure 3: Dependence of friction force Fs between surfactant layers in initial contact in water on the sliding velocity vs.
Figure 4: Loading–unloading profiles of contacting DDunAB (10 min) layers showing variation of contact area A with load L.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Chen and P.X. Li for experimental assistance, and I. Dunlop, J. Israelachvili, S. Perkin and B. Roux for comments. Financial support from the EPSRC (UK) and from the Israel Science Foundation (J.K.) is acknowledged with thanks.

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Author notes

  1. Fredrik Tiberg

    Present address: Camrus AB, Ideon Science Park, Sölvegatan 41, SE-223 70, Lund, Sweden

  2. Duncan J. McGillivray

    Present address: Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QZ, UK

    Wuge H. Briscoe, Simon Titmuss, Fredrik Tiberg, Robert K. Thomas, Duncan J. McGillivray & Jacob Klein

  2. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Jacob Klein

Authors
  1. Wuge H. Briscoe
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Correspondence to Jacob Klein.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Notes

This presents neutron reflectometry data on layers of the Gemini surfactant (referred to in the text) on a silica surface immersed in water, showing that their C6 spacer group lies flat adjacent to the surface. (PDF 97 kb)

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Briscoe, W., Titmuss, S., Tiberg, F. et al. Boundary lubrication under water. Nature 444, 191–194 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05196

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