Green Lubricants with Enhanced Tribological Performance Show Promise for Industrial Applications

Recent research from the United States has found that green lubricants with enhanced tribological performance can be created by combining nano-scale, sub-micrometer, and micrometer-scale boric acid powder additives with canola oil. The study, led by M.R. Lovell and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, discovered that lubricants containing nanoscale boric acid powder additives exhibited a wear rate more than an order of magnitude lower than those with larger sized additives, including MoS2 and boric acid additives alone.

Key Takeaways:

The researchers found that lubricants containing nanoscale boric acid powder additives outperformed all other lubricants in terms of frictional and wear performance, with a significant improvement in wear rate.
The combination of sub-micrometer and micrometer-scale boric acid powder additives with canola oil resulted in better friction and wear performance than canola oil mixed with sub-micrometer or micrometer-scale boric acid additives alone.
The study highlights the potential of green lubricants for industrial applications, particularly in industries moving towards environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.
The research suggests that nanoscale particle boric acid additives can be a viable alternative to traditional friction and wear reduction methods.
The findings of the study have significant implications for the development of environmentally friendly lubricants for industrial applications.

Statistics:

The nanoscale boric acid powder-based lubricants exhibited a wear rate more than an order of magnitude lower than the MoS2 and larger sized boric acid additive-based lubricants.
The study was published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society a - Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences in 2010.
The researchers conducted friction and wear experiments using a pin-on-disc apparatus under ambient conditions.
The study found that the lubricants containing nanoscale boric acid powder additives showed a decrease in friction coefficient by approximately 20% compared to the control samples.
The researchers discovered that the oil mixed with a combination of sub-micrometer- and micrometer-scale boric acid powder additives exhibited a decrease in wear rate by approximately 30% compared to the control samples.

Sources:

Lovell, M.R., et al. (2010). Influence of boric acid additive size on green lubricant performance. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society a - Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, 368(1929), 4851-4868.
University of Wisconsin (Nanotechnology)