College of Engineering, Ohio State University
2012

Lumley Interdisciplinary Research Award

Society for Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
2014

International Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tribology and/or its Related Sciences

Birla Institute of Technology and Science
2015

BITS Distinguished Alumni Award

The New York Academy of Sciences

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

How Butterfly Wings Can Inspire New High-Tech Surfaces

Study Reveals New Factor that could Limit the Life of Hybrid and Electric Car Batteries

Scientists develop mesh that captures oil—but lets water through

A shampoo bottle that empties completely–every last drop

This textbook presents the fundamentals of Soil Dynamics, combined with the basic principles, theories and methods of Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. It is designed for senior undergraduate and postgraduate students in Civil Engineering & Architecture. The text will also be useful to young faculty members, practising engineers and consultants. Besides, teachers will find it a useful reference for preparation of lectures and for designing short courses in Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. The book first presents the theory of vibrations and dynamics of elastic system as well as the fundamentals of engineering seismology. With this background, the readers are introduced to the characteristics of Strong Ground Motion, and Deterministic and Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The risk analysis and the reliability process of geotechnical engineering are presented in detail. An in-depth study of dynamic soil properties and the methods of their determination provide the basics to tackle the dynamic soil–structure interaction problems. Practical problems of dynamics of beam–foundation systems, dynamics of retaining walls, dynamic earth pressure theory, wave propagation and liquefaction of soil are treated in detail with illustrative examples.

Fundamentals of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

A fully updated version of the popular Introduction to Tribology, the second edition of this leading tribology text introduces the major developments in the understanding and interpretation of friction, wear and lubrication.  Considerations of friction and wear have been fully revised to include recent analysis and data work, and friction mechanisms have been reappraised in light of current developments.   In this edition, the breakthroughs in tribology at the nano- and micro- level as well as recent developments in nanotechnology and magnetic storage technologies are introduced. A new chapter on the emerging field of green tribology and biomimetics is included.   Introduces the topic of tribology from a mechanical engineering, mechanics and materials science points of view Newly updated chapter covers both the underlying theory and the current applications of tribology to industry Updated write-up on nanotribology and nanotechnology  and introduction of a new chapter on green tribology and biomimetics   

Introduction to Tribology

One of the largest universities in the United States, The Ohio State University is a leading research university and the model for the state of Ohio's public higher education institutes.  Founded in 1870 as a land-grant university, it was ranked in 2006 as one of the top 20 public universities in the United States.  The main campus is located in Columbus, and regional campuses are located in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark and Wooster.

The Ohio State University

Dr. Bharat Bhushan is an Ohio Eminent Scholar and The Howard D. Winbigler Professor in the College of Engineering, and the Director of the Nanoprobe Laboratory for Bio- & Nanotechnology and Biomimetics (NLB2) and affiliated faculty in John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. In 2013-14, he served as an ASME/AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, House Committee on Science, Space & Technology, United States Congress, Washington, DC. He holds two M.S., a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering/mechanics, an MBA and two honorary and two semi-honorary doctorates. 

His research interests include fundamental studies with a focus on scanning probe techniques in the interdisciplinary areas of bio/nanotribology, bio/nanomechanics and bio/nanomaterials characterization and applications to bio/nanotechnology, and biomimetics. He has authored 8 scientific books, 90+ handbook chapters, 800+ scientific papers (One of Google Scholar’s 1612 Highly Cited Researchers.) 

He has also edited 50+ books and holds more than 25 U.S. and foreign patents. He is co-editor of Springer NanoScience and Technology Series and Microsystem Technologies, and member of editorial board of PNAS. He has organized various international conferences and workshops. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and international fellowships including the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize for Senior Scientists, Max Planck Foundation Research Award for Outstanding Foreign Scientists, Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, Life Achievement Tribology Award, and Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK) Global Award. His research was listed as the top ten science stories of 2015. He is a member of various professional societies, including the International Academy of Engineering (Russia). He has previously worked for various research labs including IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA. He has held visiting professorship at University of California at Berkeley, University of Cambridge, UK, Technical University Vienna, Austria, University of Paris, Orsay, ETH Zurich, EPFL Lausanne, Univ. of Southampton, UK, Univ. of Kragujevac, Serbia, Tsinghua Univ., China, Harbin Inst., China, and KFUPM, Saudi Arabia.

Mechanical Engineering

Aerospace Engineering

Biomimetics

Biomimetic Materials

Nanotechnology

Biomechanics

Faculty Profile Page, Ohio State University

Ohio researchers build 'biobot' to roam ocean using sea slug muscle

Nano-tech coating lets soap products flow freely

Ohio State researchers develop mesh that captures oil

Ohio Eminent Scholar and The Howard D. Winbigler Professor | College of Engineering

Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a mesh that captures oil but lets water through. This work holds promise for large-scale applications to help clean up after major oil disasters. 

Press release:

Cleaning Up Major Oil Spill Disasters

Professor Bharat Bhushan and associated developed a mesh that can either trap oil and allow water through, or trap water and allow oil through.

Mesh developed at OSU could clean oil spills

(Inside Science) -- Sometimes science solves longstanding mysteries like gravitational waves, or finds one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe called top quarks. 
Or sometimes science just helps with some of life’s little frustrations -- like getting the last drop of shampoo out of the bottle. There’s just no getting around it -- no matter how much you squeeze or shake a shampoo bottle -- there’s always going to be some left behind.
Now scientists have invented a coating for the inside of bottles, so getting every last drop out is finally achievable. 

"It's annoying to the consumer -- you look at your cap, and the cap is filthy. It collects the shampoo or the detergent, and also you’re not able to get the last drop of the liquid out of the bottle, which means you’re throwing money away,” said Bharat Bhushan, professor at Ohio State University.

But how does shampoo stick to the bottle anyway? The chemicals that make shampoo good at clinging to the dirt in your hair -- called surfactants -- also make it good at sticking to surfaces like the inside of a bottle.

"To develop a coating which will repel shampoo and repellent and a variety of oils, we're inspired by the lotus leaf,” said Bhushan.

The lotus leaf's bumpy surface, which lets liquids roll right off, led the researchers to create a coating for the inside of bottles made of tiny nanoparticles. 

If you could look at the coating under a microscope, you would see a tiny "y” that cradles droplets of shampoo, which are balanced on top of a tiny bubble of air. This minimizes the contact between the shampoo and the inside of the shampoo bottle.

The video shows shampoo and laundry detergent sticking to an uncoated surface and then as shampoo and detergent slide off a surface treated with the new coating.

"We can create a structure which will repel liquid but we’d like to make sure it does it for a long period of time,” said Bhushan.

Once the coating is perfected it will be several years before we can buy products that use the coating in their bottles. So, until then, keep storing bottles upside down or give them a good shake.

Bhushan added, "I think it’s important from the consumer point of view. The consumer would like to get the last drop of the liquid out which they paid for."

Science helps you get every last drop for every last buck.

Science Helps Squeeze Out Every Last Drop

Scientists are looking for solutions to modern-day problems by taking a cue from sharks, geckos, butterflies and plants. Now, researchers are looking at a certain leaf with some unique properties for their latest inspiration.

"One of the things we've studied for a number of years is a lotus leaf…which is known to repel water to keep surfaces clean," Bharat Bhushan, a materials scientist at The Ohio State University, said.

You may have seen lotus leaves outside, but did you know they're naturally water repellent? The leaf's bumpy surface causes water to bead up and roll off. Taking inspiration from the leaf, materials scientist Philip Brown developed a coating that repels oil instead of water. "The technique that we use is a spray-coating technique which means that we can deposit this coating onto a range of different surfaces," Brown said.

The spray-on coating is made from nanoparticles -- tiny particles that are smaller than the finest speck of dust -- but when combined in the right way, they can do big things. Scientists spray-coated this mesh material and watched as a solution of oil and water -- dyed blue -- was poured over it. Almost like magic, the oil beaded up and collected on top while the water was filtered through the material. "We've also done a few tests on a wide variety of oils because oils can be complex," Brown said.

The technology could be used to clean up large oil spills someday – who can forget the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico – if you think something like that won't happen twice, think again.

"Since the Gulf Oil spill we've had many smaller spills," Bhushan said. "There's one off the coast of Santa Barbara, and another I remember reading about, these things happen all the time."

The technology is still years away from being used, but scientists say it's cheap to manufacture, could be scaled up to capture any size oil spill, and it could be adapted to repel both water and dirt from windshields.

"It's nice to work on something where you can really imagine it having an impact on the world and being able to help reduce our impact on our environment," Brown said.

Select Inquiry Type