Effective sugar-derived organic gelator for three different types of lubricant oils to improve tribological performance

• Published in: Friction Vol. 8; no. 6; pp. 1025 - 1038
• Main Authors: Zhang, Ruochong, Liu, Xuqing, Guo, Zhiguang, Cai, Meirong, Shi, Lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Tsinghua University Press 01.12.2020; Springer Nature B.V; State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials (Ministry of Education), Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China%State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China%School of Materials, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M139PL, UK%State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
• Subjects: Corrosion and Coatings; Engineering; Friction reduction; gel lubricant; Gelation; Gels; Liquid paraffins; Lubricants; Lubricants & lubrication; lubricating mechanism; Lubrication; Mechanical Engineering; Nanotechnology; Performance enhancement; Physical Chemistry; Polyethylene glycol; Research Article; Rheological properties; rheological property; Rheology; Stability analysis; supermolecular assembly; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thermal stability; Thermogravimetry; Thin Films; tribological performance; Tribology; Wear mechanisms; gel lubricant; supermolecular assembly; rheological property; lubricating mechanism; tribological performance
• DOI: 10.1007/s40544-019-0316-0
• ISSN: 2223-7690

In this study, the gelling ability and lubrication performance of N-octadecyl-D-gluconamides (NOG) in liquid paraffin (LP), pentaerythritol oleate (PE-OA), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) oils were systemically investigated. The NOG, which could gelate the investigated oils, was successfully synthesized by a one-step method. The prepared gel lubricants were completely thermoreversible and exhibited improved thermal stability, according to the thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) reports. Rheological tests confirmed that the NOG gelator could effectively regulate the rheological behavior of the base oils. Tribological evaluation suggested that NOG, as an additive in the three types of base oils, could remarkably reduce the friction and wear in steel contacts. A plausible mechanism for the improved performances was proposed based on the mechanical strength of the gels and the formation of the boundary-lubricating film on the worn surface. The results indicated that NOG is a potential gelator for preparing gel lubricants with excellent tribological properties and environment-friendly characteristics.