Low VOC Nanocomposite Lubricant Coating

"Solid-film lubricants are materials with inherent lubricating properties, which are firmly bonded to the surface of a substrate. Solid-film lubricants can be used where conventional wet lubricants are ineffective (e.g. in space or high vacuum) or wherethe lubricant cannot be reapplied. They offer advantages other lubricants such as greases and liquids don't, including, effective lubrication over temperature ranges where greases and oils are ineffective, the ability to withstand higher loads (e.g. inexcess of 250,000 psi), and typically they exhibit a lower coefficient of friction as the load increases. Polymer resin solid lubricants have the most commercial significance. However, many resin- bonded solid lubricant coatings release large amounts ofvolatile organic compounds (VOC) during application and curing.TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) has developed surface modified nanoplatelets with lubricious surfaces that can be applied using a waterborne epoxy formulation. The nanoparticles can be readily dispersed in the air-dried epoxy coatings and will therefore offer alow VOC coating material. Previous at TDA has shown that the nanoplatelet epoxy coatings have good wear properties and excellent corrosion resistance. Solid lubricants significantly extend the lifetime of mechanical devices. The proposed work will demonstrate the effectiveness of organic monolayer nanoplatelets as low-cost base lubricants for a low-VOC coating. The resulting