Bhushan Receives ACS Funding for Research Project

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Bharat Bhushan has been awarded a two-year $100,000 grant from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund in support of his research entitled "Nanoscale Tribocharging Mechanism and Mechanical Properties Investigation of Novel Organic and Inorganic Nano-Object-Petroleum Hybrid Lubricants." Professor Bhushan, a faculty member of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is an Ohio Eminent Scholar and the Howard D. Winbigler Professor at Ohio State. 

According to his research abstract, the project is divided into three phases. Initially, nanotubes, nanobuds and nanohorns will be deposited on metal and ceramic substrates either as dry nano-objects or as dispersions in petroleum-based oils. In the next phase, tribocharging studies will be performed using AFM and EFM to correlate adhesion and electrostatic attraction. Lastly mechanical properties will be evaluated using the Hysitron nanoindenter. Ball-on-flat tribometer studies will be performed on the macroscale along with phase two and three tests. This research will lead to an enhanced understanding of the properties of inorganic nanotube, nanobuds and nanohorns, and will lead to the creation of next generation petroleum-based oils with enhanced properties.