Sissi de Beer (Sustainable Polymer Chemistry) and Frieder Mugele (Physics of Complex Fluids) started a new project financed from NWO TTW Open Technology Program to study the microscopic mechanisms of grease lubrications in bearings and to explore novel concepts of Advanced Grease Lubrication using functional polymer surfaces.
The grant of approximately 1mioEUR will involve 3 PhD students.
The goal is synthesize new materials, characterize their wetting and transport properties from the nano- to the millimetre scale and to explore their practical performance in bearings in collaboration with Piet Lugt (Tribology Based Maintenance, ET, and SKF). This multiscale approach is designed to pave the way towards a more rational design of better lubricant greases for the energy transition (electric vehicles; windmills).