Fatty acids are natural products which have been studied as green lubricants. Ionic liquids are considered efficient friction reducing and wear preventing lubricants and lubricant additives. Fatty acid-derived ionic liquids have shown potential as neat lubricant and additives. Protic ionic liquid crystals (PILCs) are protic ionic liquids (PILs) where cations and anions form ordered mesophases that show liquid crystalline behavior. The adsorption of carboxylate units on sliding surfaces can enhance the lubricant performance. Ionic liquid crystal lubricants with longer alkyl chains can separate sliding surfaces more efficiently. However, they are usually solid at room temperature and, when used as additives in water, transitions to high friction coefficients and wear rates, with tribocorrosion processes occur when water evaporation takes place at the interface. In order to avoid these inconveniences, in the present work, a protic ammonium palmitate (DPA) ionic liquid crystal has been added in 1 wt.% proportion to a short chain citrate ionic liquid (DCi) with the same protic ammonium cation. A spin coated layer of (DCi + DPA) was deposited on AISI316L steel surface before the sliding test against sapphire ball. Synergy between DCi PIL and DPA PILC additive reduces friction coefficient and wear rate, without tribocorrosion processes, as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results.
Liquid crystal phase transitions in suspensions of mineral colloids: new life from old roots