Enhancement in tribological performance of plastic oil by solid lubricant additives

Abstract In this study, plastic oil (PO) as a potential lubricant was investigated. The base PO was incorporated with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nano additives in varying concentrations to form nano lubricants. Their viscosity, tribological, acidic/basic nature, thermal degradation and dispersion stability properties were investigated. It was observed that 1.5 wt% GNP and 1.0 wt% hBN added separately to the base PO, provided the lowest coefficient of friction (COF) and wear volume. Based on these lowest COF and wear volume insights, three nano lubricant mixtures were formulated by incorporating both GNP and hBN at different combinations using base PO. Positive synergistic behaviour was observed for COF (49%–60% reduced) and wear volume (90%–97% reduced) for two combination mixtures compared to the base PO. These improvements in the mixture were due to the polishing, mending mechanisms and tribofilm that protected the interacting surfaces.