Open AccessMicro and nanoparticles blended sesame oil bio‐lubricant: study of its tribological and rheological properties
Author(s) -
Sankaran Nair Sabarinath,
Prabhakaran Nair Kumarapillai,
Rajendrakumar Perikinalil Krishnan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
micro and nano letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1750-0443
DOI - 10.1049/mnl.2018.5395
Subject(s) - lubricant , tribology , materials science , sesamum , lubricity , nanoparticle , rheology , synthetic oil , dispersant , mineral oil , pour point , vegetable oil , titanium dioxide , dispersion stability , composite material , chemical engineering , metallurgy , nanotechnology , dispersion (optics) , base oil , scanning electron microscope , chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , optics , engineering , horticulture , biology
Non‐renewability, depleting resources and damage caused to the environment by mineral oil‐based lubricants are the greatest concerns of this century. Recently, these issues have triggered a global trend to use vegetable oil‐based lubricants in industries. Sesame oil (SESO) extracted from widely cultivated tropical crop – sesame (‘ Sesamum indicum ’) possesses distinctive characteristics such as low pour point and reasonable oxidation stability. However, the poor tribological properties of SESO limit its application as an industrial grade lubricant. Further improvement of these properties can aid its use as potential bio‐lubricant in industries. This work encompasses the blending of micro and nanoparticles in SESO with the aim of enhancing its tribological properties to suit many industrial purposes. The tribological properties of SESO with nanoparticles having morphology variation spherical‐shaped titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and rod‐shaped zinc oxide (ZnO) are used. The significance of adding microparticles is also dealt with by using molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ). Tribological properties and stability of the above‐formulated lubricants with and without the addition of surfactant to particles are studied. The rheological properties of the oil blends are examined using a rheometer. Studies indicate that rod‐shaped ZnO blended SESO reduces the coefficient of friction and wear scar diameter by 24.04 and 13.74%, respectively.