Non Toxic Self Lubricating Materials for Automotive Applications

The increasing need for materials to possess both environmental compatibility to include safe disposal prerequisites and self-lubricating capabilities that are non-toxic as well as adaptable to green manufacturing processes has led to the resurgence for the development of alternative alloys to exiting toxic materials, specifically lead. As one of the major materials that has been identified for extensive replacement in numerous applications, this material is presently used as a solid lubricant in bearings, bushings, sleeves and other moving mechanical assemblies. Lead is also an alloying element in low temperature melting solders currently used in electronic circuitry and is an additive that is used extensively in lubricants and greases. In all these cases, the applications for lead were developed over the years primarily because of its extremely good lubrication properties and its easy availability at a relatively favorable price of about 20 cents per pound. In this Phase I proposal, we will develop a new generation of non-toxic self-lubricating materials that can eliminate the need for the use of lead in lubrication and possibly in solder applications. These materials will be synthesized using the currently acceptable industrial practices so that they can be directly adapted into various industrial applications with mininum testing requirements. We will also present a range of material compositions for evaluation during Phase I. In Phase II, we will run tests on components such as bearings, sleeves and bushings as well as lubricants containing additives used in automotive and other heavy duty load bearing applications to meet both ASTA/SA standards. By the end of Phase II, we plan to have developed an economically viable and safe alternative to lead based self-lubricating materials for direct replacement in a wide variety of rolling and sliding contact applications.