A key to saving the environment, improving the economy and reducing dependence on foreign oil may be in your mother's medicine cabinet.

Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy have started to combine tiny boric acid particles (mainly called mild preservatives and eye cleaners) with traditional engine oils to improve the lubricity of engine oils and improve energy efficiency by doing so.

Ali Erdemir, a senior scientist of Argonne Energy System Department, spent nearly 20 years studying the coloring characteristics of boric acid. In 1991, he won the RD 100 award, which is widely regarded as the "Oscar of the scientific and technological community", because he showed that the microscopic particles of boric acid can significantly reduce the friction between automobile engine parts. The friction coefficient of the metal covered by boric acid film is lower than that of polytetrafluoroethylene, which makes the Erdemir film the smoothest solid existing at that time.

"Ali studies large particles with the size of micrometers," said George Fenske, who worked with Eldemir in Argonne. "He just spilled boric acid on the surface."

But Erdemir firmly believed that he could make boric acid into a better lubricant, and he continued to pursue the ultimate frontier: a perfect friction free material. Seeing the potential of nanotechnology, Erdemir reduced its size by 10 times and was surprised by the behavior of thinner boric acid films. He said: "If you can produce or manufacture boric acid on a nano scale, its performance will become more magical."

Erdemir said that reducing the particle diameter to 50 nanometers (less than one thousandth of the width of human hair) solved many old problems and opened up many new possibilities. In previous tests, his team combined larger boric acid particles with pure poly α - Olefins, the main components of many synthetic oils, are combined. Although these larger particles greatly improve the lubricity of the pure oil, within a few weeks, gravity began to separate the mixture. By using smaller particles, Erdemir creates a stable boric acid suspension in the engine oil.

In laboratory tests, these new boric acid suspensions reduced friction energy losses by up to two-thirds. Eldemir said that it is not difficult to imagine the impact on fuel economy. "It's easy to reduce fuel consumption by 4% or 5%," he said We consume millions of barrels of oil every day. If you can reduce this number by 1%, it will have a huge economic impact. "