1998 R&D 100 AWARD WINNER

Near-Frictionless Carbon Coating Is Really Slick!

Argonne researchers Ali Erdmir and George Fenske has received a 1998 R&D 100 Award for their near-frictionless carbon (NFC) film coating. Each year, R&D Magazine honors 100 new products that have great technological significance. The new material is many times slicker than Teflon - its coefficient of friction is less than 0.001 when measured in a dry nitrogen atmosphere - 20 times lower than the previous record holder, molybdenum disulfide. (Under the same conditions, Teflon's coefficient of friction is around 0.04.) Thin (1-micrometer) NFC films can be deposited on virtually any substrate by ion-beam deposition, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition at low temperatures (room temperature to 200°C) without risking damage to heat-sensitive materials.

The most promising applications for the coating, which may have the lowest coefficient of friction of any carbon-based material in the world, are automobile and engine parts - turbocharger rotors, piston rings, gears and bearings, air-conditioning compressors, and fuel injector components. Other potential applications include oil-less bearings, spacecraft mechanisms, rolling and sliding gear systems, bearings for ultrahigh-vacuum instruments, and microelectromechanical systems.

In a $2.14 million project, Argonne will be working with Front Edge Technology, Inc. (Baldwin Park, Calif.); Stirling Motors, Inc. (Ann Arbor, Mich.); and Diesel Technology Company (Wyoming, Mich.) to further develop the NFC coating to increase engine efficiency, extend wear life, and reduce maintenance costs for motor vehicles.

In addition to being named an R&D 100 Award winner, the NFC coating was a finalist in the "Emerging Technology" category of this year's Discover Magazine Awards.