Abstract Although lubricants play an essential role in reducing wear and friction in mechanical systems, environmental issues persist. In the past decades, Ionic Liquids (ILs) have arisen as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional lubricants and additives. ILs are low-volatile and non-flammable salts that possess low melting points (below 100 °C). Their tunable properties, achieved by selecting the appropriate cation and anion, make them ideal candidates for different applications, including lubricants. In recent times, Protic Ionic Liquids (PILs) have attracted attention in the tribological community as a cost-effective alternative to conventional aprotic counterparts. In this work, a choline-amino acid ionic liquid, derived only from renewable, biodegradable, and biocompatible products, was synthesized, and investigated as both neat lubricant and additive to non-polar oil. The lubricating properties of [CHO][GLY] were studied both as a neat lubricant and as a 1 wt. % additive to a polyalphaolefin (PAO) oil using a ball-on-flat reciprocating friction tester. AISI 52100 steel disks were tested against AISI 52100 steel balls using either [CHO][GLY] or the mixture of PAO+[CHO][GLY]. For comparison purposes, the commercially available base oil, PAO, was also tested. Preliminary results showed no major differences in friction between the lubricants used. Nevertheless, the addition of 1 wt.% to the PAO demonstrated a remarkable 30% reduction in wear on the steel disk. This encouraging improvement in anti-wear characteristics raises the potential advancement of lubrication technology with the choline-amino acid ionic liquid, coupled with its environmentally friendly nature. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, non-contact profilometry, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study the worn steel surfaces and elucidate the wear mechanisms. 
                        more » 
                        « less   
                    
                            
                            Friction and Wear of Pd-Rich Amorphous Alloy (Pd43Cu27Ni10P20) with Ionic Liquid (IL) as Lubricant at High Temperatures
                        
                    
    
            The friction and wear behavior of palladium (Pd)-rich amorphous alloy (Pd43Cu27Ni10P20) against 440C stainless steel under ionic liquids as lubricants, i.e., 1-nonyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl]amide ([C9C1im][NTf2]), were investigated using a ball-on-disc reciprocating tribometer at ambient, 100 and 200 °C with different sliding speeds of 3 and 7 mm/s, whose results were compared to those from crystalline Pd samples. The measured coefficient of friction (COF) and wear were affected by both temperature and sliding speed. The COF of crystalline Pd samples dramatically increased when the temperature increased, whereas the COF of the amorphous Pd alloy samples remained low. As the sliding speed increased, the COF of both Pd samples showed decreasing trends. From the analysis of a 3D surface profilometer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) data, three types of wear (i.e., delamination, adhesive, and abrasive wear) were observed on the crystalline Pd surfaces, whereas the amorphous Pd alloy surfaces produced abrasive wear only. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed to study the formation of tribofilm. It was found that the chemical reactivity at the contacting interface increased with temperature and sliding contact speed. The ionic liquids (ILs) were effective as lubricants when the applied temperature and sliding speed were 200 °C and 7 mm/s, respectively. 
        more » 
        « less   
        
    
    
                            - PAR ID:
- 10155424
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Metals
- Volume:
- 9
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 2075-4701
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1180
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
- 
            
- 
            We present a comparative study of the tribological properties of Pd-, Pt-, and Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMG-Pd, BMG-Pt, and BMG-Zr, respectively) under unlubricated conditions. In particular, micro-tribometry is utilized with a 52,100 steel ball, showing that BMG-Pt exhibits a significantly higher coefficient of friction (COF) (0.58 ± 0.08) when compared with BMG-Pd (0.30 ± 0.02) and BMG-Zr (0.20 ± 0.03). Topographical roughness on and off wear scars is characterized via atomic force microscopy (AFM), with results that do not correlate with the observed frictional behavior. On the other hand, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is utilized to reveal contrasting wear mechanisms for the three samples: while BMG-Pd and BMG-Zr exhibit predominantly abrasive wear, there is evidence of adhesive wear on BMG-Pt. Consequently, the occurrence of adhesive wear emerges as a potential mechanism behind the observation of relatively high coefficients of friction on BMG-Pt, suggesting stronger interactions with steel when compared with the other BMG samples.more » « less
- 
            Abstract Conventional lubricants face significant challenges in electric vehicle (EV) systems due to their low electrical conductivity and inability to mitigate tribo-electrification effects which can result in increased friction, wear, and electrical discharge damage under external electrification. Consequently, conductive lubricants like ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising alternatives, offering enhanced compatibility with EV applications. This study investigated the tribological behavior of four phosphonium-based room temperature ionic liquids (PRTILs) with trihexyltetradecyl phosphonium [P6,6,6,14] or tributyltetradecyl phosphonium [P4,4,4,14] cations and saccharinate [Sacc] or benzoate [Benz] anions under electrified conditions, targeting potential EV applications. Physicochemical properties, including viscosity and ionic conductivity, were measured using a viscometer and a conductivity meter, while tribological properties were evaluated using an electrified mini-traction machine and an electrified rotary ball-on-disk setup. The results revealed that all the PRTILs exhibited superior tribological (friction and wear) performance than mineral oil with or without electrification. PRTILs with the [Sacc] anion feature a double aromatic ring structure, while those with the [Benz] anion feature a single aromatic ring structure. Under low electrification (10 mA), [P6,6,6,14][Sacc] outperformed [Benz]-based PRTILs, showing a lower coefficient of friction and wear due to their higher viscosity and lower ionic conductivity. Additionally, [P6,6,6,14][Sacc] showed a power loss lower than [P4,4,4,14][Sacc] but higher than [Benz]-based PRTILs under tribo-electrification. The addition of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) reduced the power loss of [P6,6,6,14][Sacc] by 24% by reducing the electric contact resistance. Overall, double-ring aromatic [P6,6,6,14][Sacc] demonstrated superior tribological performance, and GNP additives enhanced their power efficiency, offering a promising pathway for IL-based lubricant development for electrified conditions.more » « less
- 
            An enhanced Cu-based friction material was prepared by the powder metallurgy techniques and proposed for use in the dry clutch system. The friction characteristics and wear rate of this friction material sliding against 65Mn steel are obtained using Universal Material Tester-5. The friction pairs were subjected to two operating variables, which are sliding speed and temperature. The effect of these variables during the engagement process of the friction pairs is investigated. Knowing the normal applied force and dimension of the clutch disc, the dynamic friction coefficient was translated to friction torque capacity with time. It was found that instability can be excited at low operational conditions when the resulting friction coefficient is high. At 25 ℃, the dynamic friction torque oscillates with time likewise at 400 ℃. Generally, a more stable friction torque is obtained when the sliding speed is varied compared to varying the temperatures. Moreover, the influence of the operating temperatures and sliding speeds on thermal buckling and thermoelastic instability of the friction disc is the second consideration in this work. The onset of thermoelastic instability occurs when the sliding speed exceeded 200 r/min and the results for the growth rate of hot spots were found to agree well with the critical speed of the system. Also, thermal buckling was highly dependent on the temperature difference between the inner and outer radius of the friction disc.more » « less
- 
            his study examined six phosphonium-based room-temperature ionic liquids (PRTILs) having trihexyltetradecyl- or tributyltetradecyl-phosphonium cations with saccharinate, salicylate, or benzoate anions, and obtained a feature parameter to correlate their cationic chain length, anionic ring size, and contact angle with tribological properties. PRTILs with trihexyltetradecyl-phosphonium cations had lower coefficient of friction (COF) and wear than PRTILs with tributyltetradecyl- phosphonium cations, a trend attributed to the additional methylene groups providing lower contact angle. For either cation, PRTILs with the saccharinate anion exhibited much lower COF and wear than single-ring anions, due to the formation of a low-shear-strength-tribofilm facilitated by the double-ring structure and sulfur of saccharinate. Overall, this study revealed PRTIL interfacial mechanisms that can be used to identify anion-cation combinations with optimal tribological performance.more » « less
 An official website of the United States government
An official website of the United States government 
				
			 
					 
					
 
                                    