Study of the Lubricant Additives Using Electrochemical Techniques Xiaoyin Xu, Hugh Spikes and Nigel Brandon Department of Mechanical Engineering Imperial College London
What is Electrochemistry? Electrochemistry is the study of chemical reactions which occur due to electron transfer at an interface.
Electrochemical techniques can be used to measure the effective concentration of solutes in solution. to study redox processes at solid surfaces, and thus investigate reaction mechanisms
Aims of the research work measure the effective concentration of additives in oils study lubricant additive reactions on metals (c) study the effect of applied potential on friction/wear
WE RE CE Potentiostat CE WE Electromagnetic vibrator RE Insulator Combination of potentiostat and HFRR to study the influence of applied potential on friction
Test conditions for HFR rig
ioct-ZDTP (isooctyl Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate) ZDTP used in this study R: (CH2)5CH(CH3)2 ioct-ZDTP (isooctyl Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate)
Cyclic voltammogram of isooct-ZDTP in 0.8M LiClO4 DEA Study of Boundary Lubricating Additives using Electrochemical Techniques -1.00E-09 2.00E-09 5.00E-09 8.00E-09 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 potential vs Pt (V) Current (A) with 1% ZDDP Cyclic voltammogram of isooct-ZDTP in 0.8M LiClO4 DEA (scan rate: 100mv/s) (3) Xu, X, Brandon, N., Spikes, H.,Presentation on 28th Leeds-Lyon symposium on Tribology, Sep. 2-7, 2001
0.5 without ZDTP 0.4 wear scar of ball/mm 0.3 0.2 0.1 with 1% ZDTP -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0.5 1 1.5 2 potential vs Pt (V) Effect of electrode potential on the ball’s wear scar in 0.8M LiClO4 DEA
Possible dimerisation of ZDTP at positive potential: [(RO)2PS2]2Zn Zn2+ + [(RO)2PS2]2 + 2e-
Similar work is taking place using hexadecane Effect of electrode potential on wear scar of ball in hexadecane with 0.01M TDDATPh-FB as electrolytes with and without 1% wt.ZDTP
Electrode current at different potential during HFR test with 1% wt Electrode current at different potential during HFR test with 1% wt. ZDDP in hexadecane at 60oC
Conclusions High frequency reciprocating tests have shown that ZDDP is effective in reducing wear only under oxidising conditions. At positive potential (> 0.8V), ZDTP is oxidised to disulphide [(RO)2PS2]2, which may adsorb on electrode surfaces to produce a protective layer.