纳米颗粒及其在润滑油脂中的应用

Application of Nanoparticles in Lubricants

纳米材料科学与技术的发展有力地推动了新型先进润滑材料与技术的发展,与之相适应,无机纳米颗粒作为润滑油脂抗磨损添加剂的研究受到了广泛关注.业已发现,某些纳米硫化物、纳米氧化物、纳米稀土化合物及纳米软金属均具有良好抗磨损作用,这同纳米颗粒在磨损表面的沉积及其在一定程度上对磨损表面的"修复"作用密切相关;利用有机-无机复合技术在纳米颗粒表面引入有机修饰分子,可有效地抑制纳米颗粒的团聚,从而提高纳米颗粒在润滑油中的分散稳定性;而纳米润滑添加剂实现工业化应用的关键在于规模化制备技术开发成功及生产成本的大幅度降低.

Nanomaterials have great potential as lubricating materials or for development of advanced lubrication technology. Recently, nanoparticles as oil additives have gained more and more attention for purpose of reducing friction and wear. It has been found that various inorganic nanoparticles such as sulfides, oxides, rare earth fluorides, and copper as oil additives are capable of considerably reducing wear and increasing loadcarrying capacity. This could be attributed to the formation of a boundary film composed of the deposited nanoparticles and the tribochemical reaction products of the active elements in the lubricants with the lubricated metal surfaces, which has been testified by the analysis of the worn surface with of Xray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The inorganic nanoparticles as lubricating oil additives are also capable of healing the worn metal surfaces, owing to its strong activity and interaction there with. However, further work is needed to decrease the cost of nanoparticles by realizing largescale production, before they find wide industrial application. It is thus suggested to focus on the study of novel methodology for the preparation of nanomaterials and on the development of novel multifunctional and environmentally friendly nanoparticles as lubricating oil and grease additives.