Enhancement of Tribological Behaviour and Thermal Properties of Hybrid Nanocellulose/Copper (II) Oxide Nanolubricant

Abstract

Many researchers tried to improve the tribological and thermal properties of the lubricating oil. The main advantages of using nanolubricants is they are relatively insensitive to temperature and that tribochemical reactions are limited, compared to the traditional additives. For this research, an attempt is made to enhance the tribological behaviour and thermal properties of lubricant (thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity) by adding hybrid cellulose nanocrystal/ copper (II) oxide (CNCCuO) into the engine oil (SAE 40). CNC-CuO nanoparticle with an average size 80nm was dispersed into the SAE 40 at 0.1%, 0.5% and 0.9%wt concentration. Magnetic stirrer and ultrasonic bath were used to dispersed the nanoparticle in the SAE 40. Friction force and wear rate were measured using a tribometer based on ASTM G181. The results show that frictional force when using the CNC-CuO nanolubricant at 0.1%was reduced by 54% and 22% comparing with the base oil respectively. The wear rate is also reduced when using the nanolubricants. Thermal Conductivity and specific heat capacity are also measured for the nanolubricants. The results showed that the thermal conductivity was increased about 4.2% while specific heat capacity was increase 2.1% when using CNC-CuO nanolubricant respectively. The results indicate that the hybrid CNC-CuO nanoparticles improve the tribological and thermal properties of the lubricant oil.