Technology for Creation of Antiwear Polymer Films

Virginia Tech Public Release, 29 Mar 2006 When Michael Furey, professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, at Virginia Tech, met Czeslaw Kajdas, then with the Radom Technical University in Poland, at a conference in Europe in 1981, they had differing views on how to form polymer films on surfaces to reduce wear. The result of their eventual collaboration has been fundamental discoveries in surface chemistry and dozens of compounds that reduced wear in metals, advanced alloys, and ceramics. These include ashless antiwear additives for fuels, such as for diesel, jet, and two-cycle gasoline fuels; lubricants for automotive and industrial applications; and a variety of applications in which environmental concerns are important. Read more