Influence of green synthesized aluminum oxide nanoparticle concentration on wear and coefficient of friction of vegetable oil-based lubricants

Abstract

Green manufacturing is increasingly popular, especially in lubricant manufacturing, as more environmentally friendly substitutes for mineral-based oil and synthetic additives are being found in plant extracts, and progress is being made in extraction and synthesis methodologies. It has been observed that some important performance characteristics require enhancement, and nanoparticle addition has been identified as an effective solution. However, the concentration of the addictive that would optimised the performance characteristics of interest remains a contending area of research. The research was out to find how the concentration of green synthesized aluminum oxide nanoparticles in nano lubricants formed from selected vegetable oils influences friction and wear. A bottom-up green synthesis approach was adopted to synthesize aluminum oxide (Al2O3) from aluminum nitrate (Al(NO3)3) precursor in the presence of a plant-based reducing agent—Ipomoea pes-caprae. The synthesized Al2O3 nanoparticles were characterized using TEM and XRD and found to be mostly of spherical shape of sizes 44.73 nm. Al2O3 nanoparticles at different concentrations— 0.1 wt%, 0.3 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 0.7 wt%, and 1.0 wt%—were used as additives to castor, jatropha, and palm kernel oils to formulate nano lubricants and tested alternately on a ball-on-aluminum (SAE 332) and low-carbon steel Disc Tribometer. All the vegetable-based oil nano lubricants showed a significant decrease in the coefficient of friction (CoF) and wear rate with Ball-on- (aluminum SAE 332) disc tribometer up to 0.5wt% of the nanoparticle: the best performances (eCOF = 92.29; eWR = 79.53) came from Al2O3-castor oil nano lubricant and Al2O3-palm kernel oil; afterwards, they started to increase. However, the performance indices displayed irregular behaviour for both COF and Wear Rate (WR) when tested on a ball-on-low-carbon steel Disc Tribometer.