ApNano
Materials, Inc., a provider of nanotechnology-based products,
today announced that recent tests conducted at its customers labs have
shown that when added to a regular oil, NanoLub, the world’s
first nanotechnology-based solid lubricant, continues normal
lubrication of machines and engines in severe oil loss
conditions. According to the tests, engines and machinery can work for
about 7 times longer after severe oil loss when the NanoLub formulation
was used compared with the base oil.
NanoLub is made up of particles of tungsten disulfide
(WS2) that have a structure of nested spheres, called
inorganic fullerenes, which lubricate mainly by rolling like miniature
ball bearings. When used as an additive to liquid oil or grease,
NanoLub significantly enhances the lubricating properties of the oil or
grease with respect to wear and friction by an order of magnitude
versus the same lubricant without this additive. In addition, NanoLub
“wraps” the moving parts with a lubricating thin
film -called a tribofilm - and continues to lubricate normally for a
long time, as an “uninterruptable lubrication
source” during severe oil leakages.
Recent independent tests by Dr. Adrian Oila of Newcastle
University in England were done on gears with heavy duty gear oil that
was blended with NanoLub powder. No wear damage to the steel lubricated
with the NanoLub oil could be observed with an optical microscope,
while significant wear was observed for the reference oil. The presence
of a beneficial tribofilm was detected on the gears lubricated with the
NanoLub formulation. This follows on from work done at the University
of Stockholm by Prof. Stefan Csillag and his team showing the presence,
via advanced analytical techniques, of a tribofilm which was found to
be only a few atomic layers thick.
“This feature of lubrication continuity in oil loss
conditions not only prevents damage to machines and engines, but has
important safety implications in critical systems, such as airborne
platforms,” said Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO of
ApNano Materials. “For instance it would allow a helicopter
to land safely even if its engine loses oil.” Dr. Genut was a
research fellow in the original research group which discovered the
inorganic fullerene nanoparticles at the Weizmann Institute of Science,
Israel, and first to synthesize the new material. The group was led by
Professor Reshef Tenne, currently the Director of Helen and Martin
Kimmel Center for Nanoscale Science at the Weizmann Institute.
“NanoLub has been shown in numerous independent
tests worldwide to reduce friction and wear significantly better than
conventional lubricants, especially under extreme conditions such as
very high loads” said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials'
Chairman and CFO.
ApNano Materials manufactures the nanospheres at its 1,000
square meter production facility in Israel. This is one of the few
manufacturing plants producing commercial quantities of special
nano-powders. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility meets
international guidelines for health, safety and manufacturing of
nanomaterials.
"NanoLub was found to be non-toxic in a variety of tests
performed by accredited independent testing laboratories, certified to
be in complete compliance with international standards of the OECD
(Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development)," said. Dr.
Niles Fleischer VP of Business and Product Development of ApNano
Materials "The acute toxicity testing was done in full accordance with
European Commission directives for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)."
The superlubricity of the NanoLub particles has been
discovered by the group of Professor J. M. Martin of Ecole Centrale de
Lyon, France. Their experiments demonstrated that when NanoLub was used
as an additive to oil, it caused a very low friction coefficient and
low wear. From the characterization performed after friction,
several phenomena have been proposed to explain these friction reducing
properties: NanoLub’s fullerenes delamination, formation of
tribofilm made of WS2 sheets on the surfaces, superlubricity of the
sheets and a rolling/sliding effect of the particles. According to the
conclusions of the work of the French group a combination of all these
effects can explain the excellent tribological (friction and wear
reduction) properties of NanoLub.