Recently, Professor Peng Yitian's team from the School of Mechanical Engineering at our university has made significant progress in the study of friction regulation, with the results published in the journal Nature Communications. Donghua University is the primary institution, with doctoral student Xu Haoyang as the first author, and Zhang Honglin and Sun Junhui from Southwest Jiaotong University as co-first authors. Professor Peng Yitian is the sole corresponding author.
Approximately 30% of primary energy is dissipated through friction globally, and reducing the friction coefficient and minimizing friction energy consumption are crucial strategies for promoting green and low-carbon development in the manufacturing industry. However, reducing the surface friction of mechanical components remains a significant challenge. Professor Peng's team proposed a mechanical stress pre-friction method that achieved a remarkable six-fold reduction in surface friction coefficient. The paper, based on scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and first-principles calculations, presents a novel approach where high-stress pre-friction induces interfacial charge transfer, increasing surface stiffness and lowering the surface sliding barrier, thereby reducing friction.
