Aquous Lubrication. Natural and Biomimetic Approaches

Abstract

This book about water lubrication in nature, covers the current state of our understanding of the principles of aqueous lubrication with gels and materials. Organized in 8 chapters it covers the lubrication phenomena of natural articular joints as well as of Food and Cosmetic emulsions, Ceramics and Polymer Brushes, reported and discussed underlining their tribological and nano tribological effectiveness. Tribology deals with friction, wear and lubrication, representing one of the least developed classical science to date. Nanotribology is a branch of tribology which studies friction phenomenon at the nanometer scale. Thus, it is concerned with experimental and theoretical investigation of processes ranging from atomic and molecular sales to the microscale, occurring during adhesion, function, wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces. The reason is that like nanoscience is neither truly to a single discipline nor well represented by steady state processes. However, the viscosity of the lubricating film is recognized as one of the most influential parameters for the film thickness and lubrication regime, so that it is reasonable to expect a beneficial effect on its tribological performance. Another important consequence of surface charge due to the repulsion and/or attraction between the surfaces and debris is the effect on the mechanical properties of the newly formed electro-tribochemical layers. In conclusion tribology like nanoscience involves all the complexities of nano-constrained materials that are experienced over a wide range of scales during a shear occurrence.