Abstract
In this study, lithium complex grease (LCG) and polyurea grease (PUG) were synthesized using mineral oil (500SN) and polyalphaolefin (PAO40) as base oil, adsorbed onto lithium complex soap and polyurea as thickeners, respectively. The effects of grease formulation (thickener and base oil with different amounts (80, 85, and 90 wt%) on the corrosion resistance and lubrication function were investigated in detail. The results have verified that the as-prepared greases have good anti-corrosion ability, ascribed to good salt-spray resistance and sealing function. Furthermore, the increase in the amount of base oil reduces the friction of the contact interface to some extent, whereas the wear resistance of these greases is not consistent with the friction reduction, because the thickener has a significant influence on the tribological property of greases, especially load-carrying capacity. PUG displays better physicochemical performance and lubrication function than LCG under the same conditions, mainly depending on the component/structure of polyurea thickener. The polyurea grease with 90 wt% PAO displays the best wear resistance owing to the synergistic lubrication of grease-film and tribochemical film, composed of Fe2O3, FeO(OH), and nitrogen oxide.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51705435), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2018GF05), and Key Laboratory of Material Corrosion and Protection of Sichuan (2018CL14).
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Guanlin REN. He received his bachelor’s degree from Shandong Jiaotong University, China, in 2017. He is currently a graduate student at School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. His research interests include design of lubricating materials and tribological properties of lubricating grease.
Pengfei ZHANG. He received his bachelor’s degree from Zhongyuan University Of Technology, China. He is currently a graduate student at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. His research interests include design of lubricating materials and tribological properties of lubricating grease.
Xiangyuan YE. He is currently an instructor at Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy Science in 2016, China. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2011 from Northwest Normal University, China. His research interests cover nanomaterials, polymer, and the related tribological properties.
Wen LI. She is currently an associate professor at Southwest Jiaotong University, China. She received her Ph.D. degree from Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy Science in 2017, China. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2011 from Liaocheng University, China. Her research interests cover nanoenergy materials, micro-nanodevices, optoelectronic devices, and micro-nanofabrication.
Xiaoqiang FAN. He is currently an associate professor at Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy Science in 2016, China. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2011 from Qingdao University of Science & Technology, China. His research areas cover lubricating oil/grease, nanomaterials, corrosion, tribology, and surface engineering. He has published over 30 papers in international journals, such as ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Nanoscale, Carbon, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Journal of Colloid Interface Science, Applied Surface Science, Tribology International, and Tribology Letters.
Minhao ZHU. He received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Southwest Jiaotong University, China, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. He has been working at Southwest Jiaotong University since 1993. From 1996 to 2001, he received his Ph.D. degree from Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He is a professor, an advisor of Ph.D. students and Cheung Kong Scholars, and the Dean of School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research areas cover fretting wear, fretting fatigue, surface engineering, and design of fastener connection. He has published over 200 papers in international journals, such as Carbon, Tribology International, Surface & Coatings Technology, Tribology Letters, Wear, and Friction, receiving more than 1,000 citations.
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Ren, G., Zhang, P., Ye, X. et al. Comparative study on corrosion resistance and lubrication function of lithium complex grease and polyurea grease. Friction 9, 75–91 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0325-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0325-z