(SCI) TURKISH RESEARCHERS PRESENTED WITH UNITED STATES' 2009 R&D 100 AWARDS.

ISTANBUL, Jul 23, 2009 (TUR) -- A group of Turkish researchers were presented with the United States' 2009 R&D 100 Awards.

Professor Mustafa Urgen, Professor Ali Fuat Cakir, Associate Professor Kursat Kazmanli and Associate Professor Ozgul Keles from the Istanbul Technical University and Ali Erdemir and Osman Levent Eryilmaz from the Argonne team were awarded in the technology category of "thin-film system" with their research "Superhard and Slick Coating (SSC)".

The SSC was jointly developed by a team from U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Istanbul Technical University. Galleon International Co., Brighton, Mich, and Hauzer Technocoating, the Netherlands licensed the patents.

Superhard and slick coatings can improve the performance of all kinds of moving mechanical systems, including engines. Friction, wear, and lubrication strongly affect the energy efficiency, durability, and environmental compatibility of such systems. As an example, frictional losses in an engine may account for 10-20 percent of the total fuel energy (depending on the engine size, type, driving conditions, and weather, for example). The amount of emissions produced by these engines is also strongly related to their fuel economy. In general, the higher the fuel economy, the lower the emissions. In fact, achieving higher fuel economy and lower emissions is one of the most important goals for all industrialized nations. SSC with its self-lubricating and low-friction nature can certainly help to increase the fuel economy of future engines.

The SSC is a designer coating: The ingredients used to make it were predicted by a crystal-chemical model proposed by its developers. In laboratory and engine tests, SSC reduced friction by 80 percent compared to un-coated steel and virtually eliminated wear under severe boundary-lubricated sliding regimes.

Tribological materials in future engine systems will be subjected to much higher thermal and mechanical loads and will be supplied with less effective but more environmentally sound lubricants in much reduced quantities. As exemplified above, energy saving and environmental benefits resulting from the uses of SSC are real. Therefore, even it can be reduced by one third by advanced friction control technologies like SSC, billions of dollars could be saved every year.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)