Evaluation of hexagonal boron nitride nano-sheets as a lubricant additive in water

The purpose of this work was to investigate the possible lubricating effects of aqueous dispersions of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nano-sheets. The sheets consisted of 300nm wide and sub-30nm thick flakes, and concentrations containing 1, 0.05 or 0.01wt% were synthesized without surfactants or wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wear 2013-04, Vol.302 (1-2), p.981-986
Main Authors: Cho, Dae-Hyun, Kim, Jin-Seon, Kwon, Sang-Hyuk, Lee, Changgu, Lee, Young-Ze
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The purpose of this work was to investigate the possible lubricating effects of aqueous dispersions of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nano-sheets. The sheets consisted of 300nm wide and sub-30nm thick flakes, and concentrations containing 1, 0.05 or 0.01wt% were synthesized without surfactants or with organic functionalization by means of bath sonication. Optical absorbance data for the h-BN dispersions revealed that nano-sheets remained stably dispersed in water for 30 days. The friction and wear of the clean aqueous dispersions were evaluated using a SiC ball sliding on a disk (Si wafer) arrangement. Results indicated that even small amounts of h-BN nano-sheets could enhance wear resistance and reduce friction coefficient. Also, 30 days after synthesis, the tribological properties of dispersions were not much degraded with time. Tribo-flims were observed to have formed on worn surfaces due to repeated exfoliation and deposition of h-BN nano-sheets during sliding. This process is believed responsible for the tribological improvements from aqueous dispersions. Accordingly, h-BN could be a promising “green” lubricant additive for water.
ISSN:0043-1648
1873-2577
DOI:10.1016/j.wear.2012.12.059