Abstract
Nickel (Ni) nanoparticles can be enriched on the surface of iron-based frictional pairs, which provides the possibility to get rid of the competitive adsorption between the polar species of vegetable oil and the surface-active nano-additives thereon. In this paper, nickel acetylacetonate was used as a precursor to in-situ synthesize nickel nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 12 nm in rapeseed oil (RO) as the reducing agent, surface modifier, and solvent as well. The tribological properties of the as-synthesized Ni nanoparticles were evaluated with a four-ball tribometer, and their tribomechanism was investigated based on the characterizations of the tribofilm on rubbed steel surfaces by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the Ni nanoparticles in-situ prepared in the RO with a mass fraction of 0.3% can reduce the wear scar diameter (WSD) of the steel ball by 36%. This is because, on the one hand, the Ni nanoparticles are adsorbed on the rubbed steel surfaces to repair or fill up the micro-pits and grooves thereon. On the other hand, Ni nanoparticles participate in tribochemical reactions with atmospheric O and steel substrate to form the tribochemical reaction film on the rubbed steel surfaces with the assistance of friction-induced heat and applied normal load. In addition, an amorphous carbon film is formed on the rubbed surface via the carbonization of base oil under the catalysis of Ni nanoparticles. The adsorbed Ni layer, the tribochemical reaction film, and the carbon layer comprise a composite tribofilm composed of amorphous carbon, polar fatty acid, metallic nickel, iron oxides, and nickel oxides on the rubbed steel surfaces, which contributes to significantly improving the antiwear ability and load-carrying capacity of the RO for the steel–steel sliding pair.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Rasep Z, Muhammad Yazid M N A W, Samion S. Lubrication of textured journal bearing by using vegetable oil: A review of approaches, challenges, and opportunities. Renew Sust Energ Rev 146: 111191 (2021)
Singh R. Progress of environment friendly cutting fluids/solid lubricants in turning—A review. Mater Today 37: 3577–3580 (2021)
Ranjan N, Shende R C, Kamaraj M, Ramaprabhu S. Utilization of TiO2/gC3N4 nanoadditive to boost oxidative properties of vegetable oil for tribological application. Friction 9(2): 273–287 (2021)
Xu Z, Lou W J, Zhao G Q, Zhang M, Hao J Y, Wang X B. Pentaerythritol rosin ester as an environmentally friendly multifunctional additive in vegetable oil-based lubricant. Tribol Int 135: 213–218 (2019)
Ferreira E N, Arruda T B M G, Rodrigues F E A, Moreira D R, Chaves P O B, da Silva Rocha W, da Silva L M R, Petzhold C L, Ricardo N M P S. Pequi oil esters as an alternative to environmentally friendly lubricant for industrial purposes. ACS Sustainable Chem Eng 10(3): 1093–1102 (2022)
Shill D C, Das A K, Chatterjee S. Lightning impulse breakdown performance of saturated vs unsaturated vegetable oil and their mixtures with mineral oil. Ind Crop Prod 184: 115044 (2022)
Xu M, Yu X, Ni J. Penetration and lubrication evaluation of vegetable oil with nanographite particles for broaching process. Friction 9(6): 1406–1419 (2021)
Long Y, Wang Y, Weihnacht V, Makowski S, Kubo M, Martin J M, de Barros Bouchet M I. Mechanism of superlubricity of a DLC/Si3N4 contact in the presence of castor oil and other green lubricants. Friction 10(10): 1693–1706 (2022)
Ali M K A, Hou X J. Improving the tribological behavior of internal combustion engines via the addition of nanoparticles to engine oils. Nanotechnol Rev 4(4): 347–358 (2015)
Bin Mustafa M M, Umehara N, Tokoroyama T, Murashima M, Shibata A, Utsumi Y, Moriguchi H. Effect of mesh structure of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) coating on friction and wear properties under base-oil lubrication condition. Tribol Int 147: 105557 (2020)
Meng Y G, Xu J, Jin Z M, Prakash B, Hu Y Z. A review of recent advances in tribology. Friction 8(2): 221–300 (2020)
Uflyand I E, Zhinzhilo V A, Burlakova V E. Metal-containing nanomaterials as lubricant additives: State-of-the-art and future development. Friction 7(2): 93–116 (2019)
Karthikeyan K M B, Vijayanand J, Arun K, Rao V S. Thermophysical and wear properties of eco-friendly nano lubricants. Mater Today 39: 285–291 (2021)
Alves S M, Barros B S, Trajano M F, Ribeiro K S B, Moura E. Tribological behavior of vegetable oil-based lubricants with nanoparticles of oxides in boundary lubrication conditions. Tribol Int 65: 28–36 (2013)
Chen B S, Gu K C, Fang J H, Wu J, Wang J, Zhang N. Tribological characteristics of monodispersed cerium borate nanospheres in biodegradable rapeseed oil lubricant. Appl Surf Sci 353: 326–332 (2015)
Jiang Z Q, Zhang Y J, Yang G B, Ma J Y, Zhang S M, Yu L G, Zhang P Y. Tribological properties of tungsten disulfide nanoparticles surface-capped by oleylamine and maleic anhydride dodecyl ester as additive in diisooctylsebacate. Ind Eng Chem Res 56(6): 1365–1375 (2017)
Jiang Z Q, Zhang Y J, Yang G B, Yang K P, Zhang S M, Yu L G, Zhang P Y. Tribological properties of oleylamine-modified ultrathin WS2 nanosheets as the additive in polyalpha olefin over a wide temperature range. Tribol Lett 61(3): 24 (2016)
Meng Y, Su F H, Chen Y Z. Nickel/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposite synthesized in supercritical fluid as efficient lubricant additive for mineral oil. Tribol Lett 66(4): 134 (2018)
Tu Z Q, Hu E Z, Wang B B, David K D, Seeger P, Moneke M, Stengler R, Hu K H, Hu X G. Tribological behaviors of Ni-modified citric acid carbon quantum dot particles as a green additive in polyethylene glycol. Friction 8(1): 182–197 (2020)
Hu J S, Zhang Y J, Yang G B, Gao C P, Song N N, Zhang S M, Zhang P Y. In-situ formed carbon based composite tribo-film with ultra-high load bearing capacity. Tribol Int 152: 106577 (2020)
Hu J S, Wang C F, Zhang P Y, Zhang S M, Zhang Y J. Diisooctyl sebacate-containing nickel nanoparticles for lubrication of steel sliding parts under magnetic fields. ACS Appl Nano Mater 4(7): 7007–7016 (2021)
Cho Y S, Moon J W, Chung K C, Lee J G. Synthesis of nickel and copper nanopowders by plasma arc evaporation. Joural of Korean Power Metallurgy Institute 20(6): 411–424 (2013)
Liu Y F, Zhu K L, Li X L, Lin F M, Li Y. Analysis of multi-scale Ni particles generated by ultrasonic aided electrical discharge erosion in pure water. Adv Powder Technol 29(4): 863–873 (2018)
Panigrahi B B, Das K, Godkhindi M M. Dilatometry of ball milled nickel nano powder during non-isothermal sintering. Sci Sinter 39(1): 25–29 (2007)
Logutenko O A, Titkov A I, Vorob’yov A M, Balaev D A, Shaikhutdinov K A, Semenov S V, Yukhin Y M, Lyakhov N Z. Effect of molecular weight of sodium polyacrylates on the size and morphology of nickel nanoparticles synthesized by the modified polyol method and their magnetic properties. Eur Polym J 99: 102–110 (2018)
Guo K, Li H L, Yu Z X. Size-dependent catalytic activity of monodispersed nickel nanoparticles for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10(1): 517–525 (2018)
Park J, Joo J, Kwon S, Jang Y, Hyeon T. Synthesis of monodisperse spherical nanocrystals. Angew Chem Int Ed 46(25): 4630–4660 (2007)
Murru C, Badía-Laíño R, Díaz-García M E. Oxidative stability of vegetal oil-based lubricants. ACS Sustainable Chem Eng 9(4): 1459–1476 (2021)
Mao X H, Zhao X Z, Huyan Z Y, Liu T T, Yu X Z. Relationship of glucosinolate thermal degradation and roasted rapeseed oil volatile odor. J Agric Food Chem 67(40): 11187–11197 (2019)
Bridges D, Xu R, Hu A M. Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni nanoparticle-bonded Inconel 718. Mater Design 174: 107784 (2019)
Bhattacharjee D, Sheet S K, Khatua S, Biswas K, Joshi S, Myrboh B. A reusable magnetic nickel nanoparticle based catalyst for the aqueous synthesis of diverse heterocycles and their evaluation as potential anti-bacterial agent. Bioorg Med Chem 26(18): 5018–5028 (2018)
Pan Y, Jia R R, Zhao J C, Liang J L, Liu Y Q, Liu C G. Size-controlled synthesis of monodisperse nickel nanoparticles and investigation of their magnetic and catalytic properties. Appl Surf Sci 316: 276–285 (2014)
Shukla N, Liu C, Jones P M, Weller D. FTIR study of surfactant bonding to FePt nanoparticles. J Magn Magn Mater 266(1–2): 178–184 (2003)
Söderlind F, Pedersen H, Petoral R M, Käll P O, Uvdal K. Synthesis and characterisation of Gd2O3 nanocrystals functionalised by organic acids. J Colloid Interf Sci 288(1): 140–148 (2005)
Yang K, Peng H B, Wen Y H, Li N. Re-examination of characteristic FTIR spectrum of secondary layer in bilayer oleic acid-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Appl Surf Sci 256(10): 3093–3097 (2010)
Huang X J, Chen Y B, Feng X S, Hu X Y, Zhang Y F, Liu L. Incorporation of oleic acid-modified Ag@ZnO core–shell nanoparticles into thin film composite membranes for enhanced antifouling and antibacterial properties. J Membr Sci 602: 117956 (2020)
Santos J C O, Santos I M G, Conceiçăo M M, Porto S L, Trindade M F S, Souza A G, Prasad S, Fernandes V J, Araújo A S. Thermoanalytical, kinetic and rheological parameters of commercial edible vegetable oils. J Therm Anal Calorim 75(2): 419–428 (2004)
Fan K Z, Li J, Ma H B, Wu H, Ren T H, Kasrai M, Bancroft G M. Tribological characteristics of ashless dithiocarbamate derivatives and their combinations with ZDDP as additives in mineral oil. Tribol Int 41(12): 1226–1231 (2008)
Wang L P, Gao Y, Xu T, Xue Q J. A comparative study on the tribological behavior of nanocrystalline nickel and cobalt coatings correlated with grain size and phase structure. Mater Chem Phys 99(1): 96–103 (2006)
Zhang S J, Zhu L N, Wang Y Y, Kang J J, Wang H D, Ma G Z, Huang H P, Zhang G A, Yue W. Effects of annealing treatment on tribological behavior of tungsten-doped diamond-like carbon film under lubrication (Part 2): Tribological behavior under MoDTC lubrication. Friction 10(7): 1061–1077 (2022)
Spikes H. Friction modifier additives. Tribol Lett 60(1): 5 (2015)
Wu J, Yang G B, Zhang S M, Zhang Y J, Sun L, Sun T H, Yu L G, Zhang P Y. Preparation of nanofluid of lanthanum borate nanosheets and investigation of its tribological properties and tribomechanisms in different base oils. Tribol Lett 71(1): 1 (2023)
Lei X, Zhang Y J, Zhang S M, Yang G B, Zhang C L, Zhang P Y. Study on the mechanism of rapid formation of ultra-thick tribofilm by CeO2 nano additive and ZDDP. Friction 11(1): 48–63 (2023)
Huang W J. Tribological properties of benzothiazole derivatives as additives in rapeseed oil. Tribology 23(1): 33–37 (2003) (in Chinese)
Xu N, Zhang M, Li W M, Zhao G Q, Wang X B, Liu W M. Study on the selectivity of calcium carbonate nanoparticles under the boundary lubrication condition. Wear 307(1–2): 35–43 (2013)
Jiang Z Q, Fang J H, Chen F, Feng Y H, Wang X, Chen B S, Gu K C, Liu P. Tribological properties of rapeseed oil with electromagnetic field impact. Tribology 38(1): 44–50 (2018) (in Chinese)
Gong K L, Lou W J, Zhao G Q, Wu X H, Wang X B. MoS2 nanoparticles grown on carbon nanomaterials for lubricating oil additives. Friction 9(4): 747–757 (2021)
Xiong S, Zhang B S, Luo S, Wu H, Zhang Z. Preparation, characterization, and tribological properties of silica-nanoparticle-reinforced B–N-co-doped reduced graphene oxide as a multifunctional additive for enhanced lubrication. Friction 9(2): 239–249 (2021)
Wang B B, Hu E Z, Tu Z Q, David K D, Hu K H, Hu X G, Yang W, Guo J H, Cai W M, Qian W L, et al. Characterization and tribological properties of rice husk carbon nanoparticles Co-doped with sulfur and nitrogen. Appl Surf Sci 462: 944–954 (2018)
Huang J, Li Y, Jia X H, Song H J. Preparation and tribological properties of core–shell Fe3O4@C microspheres. Tribol Int 129: 427–435 (2019)
Wang J B, Zhang H, Hu W J, Li J S. Tribological properties and lubrication mechanism of nickel nanoparticles as an additive in lithium grease. Nanomaterials 12(13): 2287 (2022)
Liu Y H, Xin L, Zhang Y J, Chen Y F, Zhang S M, Zhang P Y. The effect of Ni nanoparticles on the lubrication of a DLC-based solid–liquid synergetic system in all lubrication regimes. Tribol Lett 65(2): 31 (2017)
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51875172 and 52105180), Zhongyuan Science and Technology Innovation Leadership Program (Grant No. 214200510024), the Tribology Science Fund of State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment (Grant No. SKLTKF21B06), and Key Research and Development and Promotion Projects in Henan Province (Grant Nos. 212102310410, 232102230067, and 232102230081).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The author Jun XU is the Communication Editor of this journal.
Additional information
Wenya XU. He received his bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering in 2018 from Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan, China. He was a master graduate student in Engineering Research Center for Nanomaterials, Henan University, Kaifeng, China. He obtained his Master’s degree in materials science and engineering in 2022. His main research interests are the controlled synthesis of nickel nanoparticles and tribological properties in vegetable oils.
Guangbin YANG. He received his Ph.D. degree in condensed matter physics in 2011 from Henan University, Kaifeng, China. Now he is an associate professor in Henan University Kaifeng, China. His research areas cover the nanotribology, the lubricants, and nano-additives. He has published more than 70 journal papers and possesses three ministerial and provincial-level science and technology awards.
Pingyu ZHANG. He received his Ph.D. degree from Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China, in 2000. He joined Henan University, Kaifeng, China, in 2003, and now he is a professor and director of Engineering Research Center for Nanomaterials in Henan University, Kaifeng, China. His current research interests cover nanoparticle lubricant additives, high-performance lubricants and functional materials, and the tribology of materials. He has published over 130 journal papers and gained a number of ministerial and provincial-level science and technology awards.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, W., Yang, G., Zhang, S. et al. Tribological properties and tribomechanism of nickel nanoparticles in-situ synthesized in rapeseed oil. Friction 12, 474–489 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0776-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0776-0