Brake Wear Particle Emissions: Formation, Transport, Sampling and Prevention

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 631

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Brake Development, Volkswagen AG, 38436 Wolfsburg, Germany
Interests: brake testing; brake emissions; tribology and the fundamentals of particle formation; modeling and simulation

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Guest Editor
Development Brake System, AUDI AG, 85045 Ingolstadt, Germany
Interests: electric vehicle design

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Guest Editor
Institute for Particle Technology, TU Braunschweig, Schleinitzstr. 20, 36106 Braunschweig, Germany
Interests: particle-influenced contacts; tribological experiments; particle and brake emissions; data-driven hybrid modeling; simulation

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Traffic-related emissions are associated with adverse effects on the environment and human health. As the tailpipe has been the biggest contributor to the overall emission level, regulations have been put in place over the past decades to limit the emissions from this source. Consequently, other sources of emissions, such as those from the friction brakes, which belong to the group of non-exhaust emissions, have become the focus of scientific research. From November 2026, Europe will be the first region to implement the Euro 7 emissions standard, which regulates non-exhaust emissions. Other regions of the world, such as China and South Korea, may also follow suit and introduce regulations on brake wear particle emissions.

To comply with potential limit values, continuing to use friction brakes with most conventional material pairings is insufficient. New approaches are needed to reduce particle formation, such as improved operating modes, new brake technologies, or low-wear material pairings. Furthermore, a better understanding of the tribological processes involved in particle formation during frictional contact is required, as these processes involve various interconnected mechanical, thermal, and chemical phenomena. Only then will it be possible to combine high safety and comfort requirements with the need to reduce emission levels.

This Special Issue aims to promote progress in the field of brake wear particle emissions, which is set to become the focus of scientific research in the future due to new emission standards. Topics covered include the tribological aspects of particle formation, airborne particle transportation, sampling, and emission prevention. New findings relating to the measurement and characterization of particles are also welcome. Studies of an experimental, simulated, or mixed nature on various scales are generally appropriate.

Dr. David Hesse
Dr. Sebastian Gramstat
Dr. Frank Schiefer
Dr. Valentin Ivanov
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • brake wear particle emissions
  • particle formation
  • tribology
  • particle injection, transport and deposition
  • sampling, measurement
  • filtration and suction systems
  • regenerative braking
  • coated brake discs
  • low-wear friction pairings

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

28 pages, 54121 KB  
Article
Effect of Friction Material on Vehicle Brake Particle Emissions
by Marie Hoff, Yan-Ming Chen, Laurent Meunier, Christophe Bressot and Martin Morgeneyer
Atmosphere 2025, 16(9), 1075; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16091075 - 11 Sep 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 336
Abstract
This study focuses on the influence of different brake pad formulations on the emission of particulate matter coming from car braking systems. The brake particles were characterised using a pin-on-disc bench and some particle measuring devices such as CPC, APS, SMPS and a [...] Read more.
This study focuses on the influence of different brake pad formulations on the emission of particulate matter coming from car braking systems. The brake particles were characterised using a pin-on-disc bench and some particle measuring devices such as CPC, APS, SMPS and a PM10 sampling unit. Seven samples of brake pad materials of different compositions (1 NAO and 6 Low Steel) were tested against grey cast iron discs. The results presented in this work show differences in particle number concentration and PM10 emission factor between the different friction materials tested. Three friction materials, LS04, LS06 and NAO01, reduce particle number emissions by up to 71% and PM10 emissions by up to 57%. On the other hand, this reduction in particulate emissions goes along with a reduction of 20% to 27% in the coefficient of friction. The microscopic analyses carried out on the test parts (pins and discs) show differences between the most emissive and the least emissive friction pairs, which may explain the differences observed in particle emissions. Correlations between the emission of particles and the concentration of iron of the PM10, as well as the steel fibre content in the formulas, were found. Full article
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