Sustainable lubricants - Fraunhofer IWM

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Sustainable lubricants: For environmentally friendly tribology

Sustainable lubricants: For environmentally friendly tribology

The "Sustainable Lubricants and Tribochemistry" team develops innovative solutions to reduce friction and wear without harming the environment.

What does sustainability mean?
For us, sustainability means not only reducing friction and wear, but also reducing environmental impact, ensuring long-term availability and efficient use of resources. Our goal is to develop lubricants that not only improve performance but also have a positive impact on the environment and are suitable for a circular economy.

Our measures for sustainable lubricants include:

Reduction of friction and wear: Friction and wear are decisive factors in the Sustainability of tribological systems, as they influence service life and efficiency. Our research therefore includes superlubrication, an innovative technology that reduces friction (coefficient of friction < 0.01) and wear (spec. wear rate k < 10-9 mm³/(N-m)) to a minimum using sustainable lubricants. By developing tribological systems with super-lubricating properties, we strive to maximize the efficiency of tribological systems and minimize energy consumption.
Targeted material selection: lubricants (base material and additives) are selected taking into account their production, availability, environmental compatibility and suitability for a circular economy. Among other things, we develop model lubricants based on water or polyglycols, which are not only effective but also environmentally friendly. In addition, we are investigating sustainable base materials and additives, which are also selected on the basis of their environmental compatibility and suitability for a circular economy.
Life cycle analyses (LCA) and comparison with current tribosystems: to evaluate the tribosystems, we are working with research partners to focus on LCA and comparison with current tribosystems to ensure that the tribosystems not only meet performance and efficiency requirements, but also make a positive contribution to sustainability.

R&D services regarding sustainable lubricants for your company

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3D laser microscopy for surface and wear analysis

Tribological model tests

Tests on common model testing systems (e.g. pin-on-disk, ball-on-plate) with rotation or oscillation
Rheological tests (also according to standard)
High pressure rheology

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Worm gearbox test bench: Application-oriented testing of different lubricants and materials on a worm gearbox. Measurement of efficiency and determination of wear and corrosion.

Tribological component testing and system analysis

Method development for application-oriented testing of the application behavior of materials and lubricants
Testing of new lubricants in rolling and plain bearings
Tribological tests on worm gears
Life cycle analyses (LCA) in collaboration with partners
Comparison with the latest state of the art
Circulatory capability
Service life assessment

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High-resolution surface analysis to identify tribological mechanisms

Damage and material analysis

High-resolution surface analysis (SEM-EDX, XPS)
Lubricant decomposition (IR spectroscopy, rheology)
Corrosion (including current-voltage curves, cyclovoltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (Enabling Innovation))

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Tribological testing of different plain bearings to determine friction and wear as a function of the lubricant, materials and load collective

Development of testing techniques

Adaptation of a wide range of geometries for tribological characterization
Model tests and application-oriented investigations

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Development of lubricants for the circular economy

Development of tribosystems and material substitution

Development of customer-specific tribological systems, such as the development of electrically conductive model lubricants
Identification of promising additive systems (including ionic liquids)
Identification and development of super-lubricating systems (coefficient of friction < 0.01) through targeted combination of material and lubricant
Integration of new materials and technologies into existing or new tribological systems
Testing a wide range of materials (polymers, metals, ceramics)
Development of water or polyglycol-based model lubricants that are suitable for the circular economy

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Application-oriented verification of superlubricity with a sliding pad tribometer and molecular dynamics simulation between two oxidized silicon carbide surfaces (blue: water, dissolved ions: violet).

Superlubrication for new plain bearings

In technical systems, friction is often reduced using rolling or plain bearings: plain bearings score points with a simple design and low costs, but have friction coefficients of approx. 0.1 and decreasing energy efficiency at higher speeds. Although rolling bearings achieve friction coefficients of only 0.01, they are more complicated, noisier and more expensive. For this reason, designers often opt for the simpler plain bearings, despite the higher coefficients of friction.

One solution to make plain bearings just as resource-efficient as rolling bearings in the future could be superlubrication. If the materials, surfaces and lubricant are very well matched, and extremely low coefficients of friction can be achieved. So far, superlubricated model systems can be realized in the laboratory. The challenge is their long-term and temperature stability under practical conditions. In many cases, special materials are also required that are only stable under a certain gas atmosphere.

In the Fraunhofer SupraSlide project, a modular system for superslide bearings was developed that enables energy savings of 90% compared to conventional plain bearings. In addition, three demonstrators were realized: an e-axle for electric bicycles, plain bearings and mechanical seals for pumps and a positioning system for robotics.

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