PhD or Postdoc position on “Energy dissipation in dry sliding friction”

A PhD or PostDoc position is available in the Group “Modelling of Functional Nanosystems” of Prof. Michael Moseler (Institute of Physics) at the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Subject

Dry friction – the energy loss during unlubricated sliding of two surfaces against each other – is an ubiquitous phenomenon occurring in many technical processes and machines, such as turning and cutting, journal bearings, roller bearings or engines under boundary lubrication. High friction between two surfaces results in wear and finally in the failure of devices. The understanding of friction phenomena and of how to control the frictional properties of material pairings is of paramount importance to save energy, lower CO₂ emission, reduce wear and increase the lifetime of mechanical devices.

Your tasks

This understanding requires deep insights into the atomic-scale dissipation processes [1]. You will employ and develop quantum-mechanical [2] and classical molecular dynamics models [3] to study dry sliding in realistic materials system and to understand how friction originates from elastic instabilities in the near-surface region of sliding interfaces. You will find out how to cast this multidimensional systems in much simpler equations of motion to describe energy dissipation with only the most important degrees of freedom. In this way, you will learn how to minimise or even avoid friction and provide design rules and constitutive equations for systems with ultra- and superlow friction. This research is currently at the forefront of applied physics. Therefore, you will also interact with other academic key players in France or USA as well as with important German companies that are eager to translate your findings into sustainable products.         

Your profile

If you have a solid background and enjoy diving into computational materials physics (especially large-scale molecular dynamics simulations) you are highly welcome to apply for this open position which is funded within the Research Unit 5099 “Reducing complexity of nonequilibrium systems”. Your application should be sent to Prof. Michael Moseler, [email protected]

[1] A. Klemenz, L. Pastewka, S. G. Balakrishna, A. Caron, R. Bennewitz, M. Moseler, Atomic Scale Mechanisms of Friction Reduction and Wear Protection by Graphene, Nano Letters 14, 7145 (2014)

[2] T. Kuwahara, P. A. Romero, S. Makowski, V. Weihnacht, G. Moras, M. Moseler,  Mechano-chemical decomposition of organic friction modifiers with multiple reactive centres induces superlubricity of ta-C, Nature Communications 10, 151 (2019)

[3] T. Reichenbach, L. Mayrhofer, M. Moseler, G. Moras, Steric effects control dry friction of H- and F-terminated carbon surfaces, ACS Materials & Interfaces 12, 8805 (2020)