At water coverages of ≥ 0.5 ML, the water layer screens the low (ClayFF 14 ) and intermediate (INTERFACE-FF ) hematite-PAO4 interactions, which means that the ITR is mainly dependent on the water/hematite and water/PAO4 interactions. Since water/hematite and water/PAO4 interactions remain constant, we see a similar ITR for the weak and intermediate interactions for water coverages of 0.5 ML and above. In the case with high solid-liquid interaction strengths (Savio et al. ), the hematite/PAO4 interactions are strong enough to be felt by the PAO4 molecules in the presence of the 0.5 ML to 1.0 ML water films; however, the increased water film thickness leads to an increased screening of these interactions and therefore an increase in ITR. For these cases, the ITR at the water/PAO4 interface is controlled by both the water/PAO4 interactions and the hematite/PAO4 interactions.