This Special Issue will showcase the latest studies on tribological applications, highlighting both experimental and simulation-based approaches across multiple scales. Submit your manuscript by September 30, 2026.
ACS Applied Engineering Materials is seeking submissions to an upcoming Special Issue on Frontiers in Materials for Tribology. This Special Issue will showcase the latest studies on tribological applications, highlighting both experimental and simulation-based approaches across multiple scales. We welcome your contribution to this Special Issue by September 30, 2026.
Friction and wear account for enormous energy consumption and material loss worldwide. To alleviate these issues, tribologists have devoted significant efforts to designing and developing advanced materials that minimize friction, reduce wear, and extend component lifetimes.
By bringing together cutting-edge research, this Special Issue in ACS Applied Engineering Materials aims to provide a platform for exploring how material properties govern tribological performance and how innovative strategies in material design can lead to transformative solutions. We invite contributions that focus on developing new materials for tribological applications or elucidating the fundamental relationships between material properties and tribological behavior.
Some of the most recent articles we have published in the field are:
Effects of Micropillar Array Strain on Sliding Friction at Soft Interfaces
Graphitic Carbon Nitride: Achieving Superlow Friction and Wear on Engineering Steel
Simultaneous Control of Sliding Contact and Oxidation via Graphene-Based Materials
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Advanced surface coatings and engineered interfaces for friction and wear reduction
- Nanomaterials and composites for high-performance lubrication
- Bio-inspired and sustainable lubricants, including ionic liquids, esters, and vegetable oils
- Mechanochemistry and tribochemical film formation at sliding interfaces
- In-situ and operando characterization techniques for probing tribological processes
- Computational modeling, simulations, and machine learning in tribology materials design
- Tribology in extreme environments (high temperature, vacuum, corrosive, or cryogenic)
- Applications in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), biomedical implants, and industrial machinery
We welcome contributions that bridge the gap between materials innovation and real-world tribological performance, advancing both fundamental understanding and practical applications in diverse fields ranging from industrial machinery to biomedical devices and micro/nanosystems.
Organizing Editors
Dr. Jessica Schiffman, Deputy Editor, ACS Applied Engineering Materials
University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
Dr. Jie Zhang, Guest Editor
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Dr. Antje Dollmann, Guest Editor
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Germany
Dr. Kian Kun Yap, Guest Editor
King’s College London, United Kingdom
Dr. Wei Song, Guest Editor
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States
Submission Information
We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through September 30, 2026. For more information on submission requirements, please visit the journal’s Author Guidelines page.
Accepted manuscripts for consideration in this Special Issue will include research articles, reviews, and spotlights on applications. Papers accepted for publication for this Special Issue will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online on a dedicated landing page to form the Special Issue. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.
Open Access: There are diverse open access options for publications in American Chemical Society journals. Please visit our Open Science Resource Center for more information.
How to Submit
- Log in to the ACS Publishing Center.
- Select the "Journals" tab.
- Choose ACS Applied Engineering Materials.
- Click "Submit."
- Select your manuscript type, and, under "Special Issue Selection," choose “Frontiers in Materials for Tribology."
If you have any general questions regarding submission to this Special Issue, please contact Jhoan Toro-Mendoza (jtoro-mendoza@acs-i.org).
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