Nanotribology of copper clusters

Abstract

The use of nanotechnologies in tribology has led to a large number of marketable lubricants containing nanoparticles with unproven efficiency. Tribological and physicochemical studies of some lubricant additives aimed at determining the tribological characteristics are presented in this work. It is found that applying metal particles (copper, above all) may lead to increased tribotechnical characteristics of lubricants. The quantum chemical calculations with the full optimization of all parameters by the method of the density functional theory (DFT) PBEPBE/Lanl2DZ were carried out in order to identify the mechanism of formation and growth of copper nanoclusters as a modeling basis of the metal-clad component of the tribosystems. It is shown that the formation of Cu nanoparticles and their shape are related with the growth of nanoclusters, their stabilization by ligands, and their aggregation, as well as agglomeration and coalescence, which results in nanoparticles of sizes ranging from a few to tens and hundreds of nanometers of different shapes. The synthesis of copper nanoclusters aimed at studying physical and chemical characteristics and their application as functional tribological nanomaterials is carried out. The efficiency of such lubricant compositions is determined.