© Edoardo Marquis

Our research explores how materials behave when they touch, slide, and wear. It is a deceptively simple problem that in fact spans an enormous range of length and time scales. Connecting what occurs at the atomic scale with the performance of real components is one of the major challenges in materials science, and it is central to our work. We focus mainly on solid lubricants, with particular interest in carbon-based materials and in the rapidly growing family of two-dimensional materials, including MXenes and Transition Metal Carbo Chalcogenides (TMCCs). These systems offer exciting opportunities to tune friction and wear by controlling their chemistry, structure, and interaction with the surrounding environment.

To study them, we combine atomistic simulations with experimental characterization. Theory allows us to uncover fundamental mechanisms, while experiments reveal how these mechanisms manifest on real surfaces. Bringing these two perspectives together helps us bridge the gap between microscopic and macroscopic tribology, and to design materials that perform reliably under demanding conditions.

Tribology touches virtually every scientific field. Physics and chemistry describe electrons and chemical bonds, materials science provides insight into microstructures, mechanical engineering explains load, stress, and fatigue, environmental science clarifies the influence of atmosphere and humidity, and biological sciences contribute understanding of soft and complex interfaces. Because friction and wear arise from all these intertwined factors, meaningful progress often comes from combining different viewpoints. For this reason, we are always open to collaborations, since every discipline has something valuable to offer in the study of interacting surfaces and tribology.