Tribochemistry and antiwear mechanism of organic-inorganic nanoparticles as lubricant additives

Lubricant-dispersible nanoparticles are prepared via a surface modification synthetic way and characterized by state of the art tools such as TEM. The tribological properties of the nanoparticles as lubricant additives were studied and the results show that the addition of nanoparticles as additives reduced wear and increased load-carrying capacity of base oil remarkably, indicating nanoparticles can be used as anti-wear and extreme-pressure additives with excellent performances. The boundary lubrication mechanism of nanoparticles was discussed that probably an ultra thin film, which is formed by the melting and elongation of nanoparticles under tribological heat and shear force, attributed to good tribological performance of nanoparticulate as additives.