Improved tribological properties, thermal and colloidal stability of poly-α-olefins based lubricants with hydrophobic...

Newtonian liquids, usually used as base oil lubricants, exhibit low viscosity under extreme thermal conditions, needed for the functioning of wind turbines. This is directly affecting the colloidal stability and the tribological properties of the formulations containing additives, such as MoS₂. Here, it was hypothesized that the surface hydrophobization of MoS₂ particles will allow for an increased colloidal stability of the resulting formulations, for temperatures as high as 80 °C.

The antifriction properties and the thermal stability of the designed formulations were determined on submicron MoS₂ particles dispersed in poly-α-olefins (PAO) base oils of different dynamic viscosities (from 32 to 1650 mPa·s at 25 °C). The submicron particles of MoS₂ (300-500 nm in diameter) were synthesised by a simple one-pot solvothermal method under mild conditions. The resulting particles were hydrophobized in situ in PAO base oils using alkyltrichlorosilane grafting agents with two chain lengths (C8 and C18).

The covalent grafting of alkylsilanes through Mo-O-Si bonds was confirmed by DFT calculations and FT-IR measurements. Turbiscan optical analysis revealed that thermal and colloidal stabilities can be significantly improved depending on oil viscosity and chain length of the grafting agent. The formulations in the PAO65 oil remained highly stable (TSI < 1), even at 80 °C. Herein, we demonstrate the impact of hydrophobization degree on the tribological properties of the lubricants, which, importantly, could reach ultra-low friction coefficients, less than 0.02.