Superhard Nanocomposite Coatings

A surface that provides a combination of high mechanical hardness with low friction would be very desirable in many of today's technology innovations. Argonne researcher, Ali Erdemir working with a group from the Instanbul Technical University, have developed a coating that does just that!

This has been made possible by the development of a special formulation of hard and soft phase materials that can provide friction coefficients of 0.02 to 0.05 under conditions where minimal lubricant is available — for comparison, steel on steel is in the 0.1-0.15 range.

A deposition system that can produce these super hard coatings has also been created and has been used to deposit the materials as superhard films on critial engine parts and components. Such parts have demonstrated much lower friction and wear compared to control specimens.

Patents

US 2004/0131894: Hard and Low Friction Nitride Coatings and Methods for Forming the Same (Application Publication)

Publications

Technology Profile (pdf): Superhard Nanocomposite Coatings Reduce Friction and Wear

For More Information

For technical information, contact Dr. Ali Erdemir erdemir@anl.gov , Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory. For information on licensing agreements and working with Argonne, contact William D. Ingle, Office of Technology Transfer, Argonne National Laboratory (630-252-1346, wingle@anl.gov.

Related Argonne Information

Click here to access the researcher's division