Ultralow friction of 5CB liquid crystal on steel surfaces using a 1,3-diketone additive

Liquid crystals (LCs) are considered attractive lubricating materials due to their controllable molecular alignment and rheological behavior using an external electric field or a surface-alignment layer. In this study, a 1,3-diketone EPND (1-(4-ethyl phenyl) nonane-1,3-dione) fluid was tribologically investigated as an additive in a nematic liquid crystal 5CB (4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl) on steel surfaces. It shows that the chemically bonded EPND...