Common lubricants, optimized for steel, perform poorly for alumina surfaces, making ionic liquids (ILs) attractive potential alternatives, either in neat form or as oil additives.Here, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the lubricity of two oil-miscible ILs between a silicon AFM tip and an alumina surface. Trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis-(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinate (P 6,6,6,14 ( i C 8 ) 2 PO 2 ) and trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (P 6,6,6,14 DEHP) were mixed with hexadecane at concentrations from 0 to 100 mol % IL. Both ILs are effective lubricants for alumina, reducing lateral forces to approximately one third of the forces measured in hexadecane. When used as an additive in hexadecane, increasing the IL concentration generally decreased the friction, as the IL adsorbs on alumina and forms a strong boundary layer. P 6,6,6,14 DEHP mixtures reduce friction more effectively than P 6,6,6,14 ( i C 8 ) 2 PO 2 . For both ILs, a 2 mol % mixture of IL and hexadecane reduced friction most effectively, even more than the neat IL.

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We reviewed a 76-year-old lady with a persisting left upper lobe opacity on subsequent chest radiographs. She complained of weight loss but denied constitutional upset. Bloods showed raised IgG subclass immunoglobulins. Computed tomography (CT) of the thorax demonstrated consolidation in the left upper lobe and small volume mediastinal adenopathy. Bronchoscopy was negative and CT-guided lung biopsy showed only inflammatory tissue. This was repeated with a similar result. As there was no evidence of malignancy, our patient was commenced on oral steroids and was discharged. Unfortunately, she re-presented 4 years later following an episode of acute dyspnoea. She underwent a further CT of the thorax and CT-guided biopsy in order to rule out malignancy. Storiform fibrosis was noted on histology and a diagnosis of IgG4-related lung disease was reached. IgG4-related lung disease had clearly not been considered as a differential diagnosis in this case. We pushed to rule out malignancy but did not explore alternative diagnoses. This highlights the need to consider other conditions or they will be missed!