Unctuous ZrO₂ nanoparticles with improved functional attributes as lubricant additives

One of the main drawbacks in the application of metal-oxide nanoparticles as lubricant additives is their poor stability in organic media, despite the good anti-wear, friction-reducing and high-load capacity properties described for these materials. In this work, we present a novel procedure to chemically cap the surface of ZrO₂ nanoparticles (ZrO₂NPs) with long hydrocarbon chains in order to obtain stable dispersions of ZrO₂NPs in non-aqueous media without disrupting their attributes as lubricant additives. C-8, C-10 and C-16 saturated flexible chains were attached to the ZrO₂NP surface and their physical and chemical characterization was performed by transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. The dispersion stability of the modified ZrO₂NPs in non-aqueous media was studied using static multiple light scattering. Tribological tests demonstrated that dispersions of the long-chain capped ZrO₂NPs in base lubricating oils exhibited low friction coefficients and improved the anti-wear properties of the base oil when compared with the raw lubricating oil.