“Advancing Solid Interface and Lubricants by First Principles Material Design” (SLIDE) is a project founded by the European Research Council through a Consolidator Grant and hosted by the University of Bologna. The principal investigator is Prof. Maria Clelia Righi. The activities started on November the 1st 2020. The goal of the project is to port material design paradigm based on first principles material discovery to the field of tribology to advance the study of solid interfaces and design materials to reduce friction.”
Friction and wear result in massive energy and environmental costs. By improving tribology technologies, a huge amount of energy could be saved, with a corresponding reduction in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Tribology technologies are nowadays fully based on materials. Understanding the physics and chemistry governing the frictional behavior of lubricants is not an easy task, as their function is ruled by atomistic processes that occur at the buried sliding interface, which is very difficult to monitor in real time by experiments. Simulations can play a crucial role here, in particular those based on a quantum mechanical approach, which is essential for an accurate description of the conditions of enhanced reactivity imposed by the mechanical stresses applied.
The goal of SLIDE is to port the most advanced paradigms for materials modeling and design into the field of tribology and perform:
- In silico experiments to advance lubricants. SLIDE will focus, in particular, on the development of environmentally friendly alternatives to commercial additives used in engine oils;
- High-throughput screening of the adhesion and shear strength of many solid interfaces. The (machine learning) analysis of the populated database will allow for predictive understanding.
Invited presentation at conferences
- ESMC 2025, 2th European Solid Mechanics Conference, 7-11 July 2025, Lyon (France)
- PASC25, 16 June 2025, Brugg (Switzerland)
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 16–17 June 2025, Zurich (Switzerland)
- Summit of Materials Science 2024 and GIMRT User Meeting 2024, 27 November 2024, Sendai (Japan)
- Friction 2024, 26–27 February 2024, Oberhof (Germany)
- 78th STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition, 19–23 May 2024, Minneapolis (USA)
- Tribology – Gordon Research Conference, 23–28 June 2023, Lewiston (USA)
- MolSImEng 2023, 6 October 2023, Milan (Italy)
- International Tribology Conference 2023, 25–30 September 2023, Fukuoka (Japan)
- Tribochemistry Beppu 2023, 22–24 September 2023, Beppu (Japan)
- FEMS EuroMat 2023, 3–7 September 2023, Frankfurt (Germany)
- Virtual Symposium: Digital Tribology, 19–20 July 2023, Online
- Tribology International Conference, 26–28 April 2023, Lisbon (Portugal)
- WeSSt Web Seminar Series on Tribology, 22 December 2023, Online
- Junior Euromat 2022, 19–22 July 2022, Coimbra (Portugal)
- Nordtrib, 14–16 June 2022, Norway
- The International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF), 22–27 May 2022, San Diego (USA)
- Tribology International Conference, 27–29 April 2022, Online
- 2D Mat, 1 February 2022, Online
- IUPAC World Chemistry Congress 2021 Virtual, 19 August 2021, Online
- STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition, 19 May 2021, Online
- Vienna Virtual Materials Tribology Workshop, 24 November 2020, Online
- WeSSt Web Seminar Series on Tribology, 16 June 2020, Online
Developed and released Computational Tools
For more details on the software tools, visit the Software & Databases page.- Tribchem: For high throughput first-principles calculations of solid surfaces and interfaces [ref], Tribchem GitLab repository;
- XSORB: Automatized search of the most stable adsorption configuration and energy of molecules on surfaces[ref], XSORB GitLab repository;
- SCS: Dataset population for training machine learning potential with automated system generation and strategic sampling[ref], SCS GitLab repository.
Publications
- M. Wolloch, G. Losi, O. Chehaimi, F. Yalcin, M. Ferrario, M. C. Righi, Computational Materials Science, [ref] (PDF)
- Z. Liu, A. Hinaut, S. Peeters, S. Scherb, E. Meyer, M. C. Righi, T. Glatzel, Nanomaterials, [ref] (PDF)
- G. Losi, M. Cutini, P. Restuccia, M. C. Righi, 2D Materials, [ref] (PDF)
- M. Stella, C. D. Lorenz, M. C. Righi, 2D Materials, [ref] (PDF)
- P. V. Antonov, P. Restuccia, M. C. Righi, J. W. M. Frenken, Nanoscale Advances, [ref] (PDF)
- E. Marquis, M. Cutini, B. Anasori, A. Rosenkranz, M. C. Righi, Applied Nano Material, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Peeters, G. Losi, P. Restuccia, M. C. Righi, Applied Surface Science, [ref] (PDF)
- N. V. Tran, M. C. Righi, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- A. Ciniero, G. Fatti, M. Marsili, D. Dini, M. C. Righi, Nano Energy, [ref] (PDF)
- F. Benini, N. Bassoli, P. Restuccia, M. Ferrario, M. C. Righi, Molecules, [ref] (PDF)
- P. Restuccia, G. Losi, O. Chehami, M. Marsili, M. C. Righi, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, [ref] (PDF)
- E. Marquis, F. Benini, B. Anasori, A. Rosenkranz, M. C. Righi, Nano Convergence, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Peeters, G. Losi, S. Loehlé, C. Righi, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- M. Cutini, G. Forghieri, M. Ferrario, M. C. Righi, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- A. Rosenkranz, M. C. Righi, A. V. Sumant, B. Anasori, V. N. Mochalin, Advanced material, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Peeters, A. Barlini, J. Jain, N. N. Gosvami, M. C. Righi, Applied Surface Science, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Peeters, C. Charrin, I. Duron, S. Loehlé, B. Thiebaut, M. C. Righi, Materials Today Chemistry, [ref] (PDF)
- G. Losi, O. Chehaimi, M. C. Righi, Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, [ref] (PDF)
- E. Pedretti, P. Restuccia, M. C. Righi, Computer Physics Communications, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Kajita, A. Pacini, G. Losi, N. Kikkawa, M. C. Righi, Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, [ref] (PDF)
- P. G. Grützmacher, M. Cutini, E. Marquis, M. Rodríguez Ripoll, H. Riedl, P. Kutrowatz, S. Bug, C. J. Hsu, J. Bernardi, C. Gachot, A. Erdemir, M. C. Righi, Advanced Materials, [ref] (PDF)
- H. T. T. Ta, N. V. Tram, M. C. Righi, ACS Applied Nano Materials, [ref] (PDF)
- H. T. T. Ta, N. V. Tran, M. C. Righi, Langmuir, [ref] (PDF)
- F. Benini, P. Restuccia, M. C. Righi, Applied Surface Science, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Giaremis, M. C. Righi, Tribology International, [ref] (PDF)
- H. T. T. Ta, M. Ferrario, S. Loehlé, M. C. Righi, Computational Materials Today, [ref] (PDF)
- E. Damiani, M. Marsili, M. C. Righi, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- S. Giaremis, M. C. Righi, Surfaces and Interfaces, [ref] (PDF)
- Y. Long, A. Pacini, M. Ferrario, N. Van Tran, S. Peeters, B. Thiebaut, S. Loehlé, J. M. Martin, M. C. Righi, M. I. De Barros Bouchet, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- A. Rosenkranz, B. Wang, D. Zambrano, J. Marqués Henríquez, J. Y. Aguilar-Hurtado, E. Marquis, P. Restuccia, B. C. Wyatt, M. C. Righi, B. Anasori, Materials Today Nano, [ref] (PDF)
- E. Poli, M. Cutini, M. A. Nosir, O. Chehaimi, M. C. Righi, Applied Surface Science, [ref] (PDF)
- A. Pacini, M. Ferrario, S. Loehle, M. C. Righi, The European Physical Journal Plus, [ref] (PDF)
- Y. Guan, E. Marquis, M. C. Righi, J. Galipaud, F. Dubreuil, J. Dufils, E. Macron, F. Dassenoy, M. I. de Barros Bouchet, Tribology International, [ref] (PDF)
- H. Li, X. Sui, P. Ayala, E. Marquis, H. Rabl, A. Ertl, P. Bilotto, Y. Shang, J. Li, L. Xu, M. C. Righi, D. Eder, C. Gachot, Advanced Science, [ref] (PDF)
- P. G. Grützmacher, A. Majed, E. Marquis, X. Sui, M. C. Righi, M. Sauer, A. Foelske, M. Naguib, C. Gachot, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- T. Omiya, E. Pedretti, M. Evaristo, A. Cavaleiro, A. C. Serra, J. F. J. Coelho, F. Ferreira, M. C. Righi, Tribology International, [ref] (PDF)
- G. Boidi, D. Zambrano, S. Schwarz, E. Marquis, M. Varga, M. Rodríguez Ripoll, E. Badisch, M. C. Righi, C. Gachot, P. G. Grützmacher, A. Rosenkranz, Carbon, [ref] (PDF)
- M. Vezzelli, M. Rodríguez Ripoll, S. Schwarz, A. Erdemir, M. C. Righi, C. Gachot, Advanced Engineering Materials, [ref] (PDF)
- Y. Long, J. M. Martin, F. Dubreuil, B. Thiebaut, S. Loehle, H. T. T. Ta, M. Ferrario, M. C. Righi, M. I. De Barros Bouchet, Materials Today Nano, [ref]
- G. Boidi, B. Ronai, D. Heift, F. Benini, M. Varga, M. C. Righi, A. Rosenkranz, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, [ref]
- H. T. T. Ta, M. Ferrario, S. Loehlé, M. C. Righi, Applied Surface Science, [ref] (PDF)