Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ibuprofen-Based Ionic Liquids as Additives for Enhancing the Lubricity and Antiwear of Water–Ethylene Glycol Liquid

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Tribology Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ibuprofen-based (L-Ibu) halogen-free ionic liquids (ILs) were synthesized and evaluated as water-based lubricant additive. In contrast to the conventional ILs with fluoro-containing anions, the present L-Ibu ILs have no corrosive attack to steel and cast iron even in the water environment and exhibit extremely stable hydrolytic stability in water–ethylene glycol (W–EG) system. In addition, the Ibuprofen ILs as the water-based lubricant additives have better friction-reducing, extreme-pressure and antiwear properties than a commercial antiwear water-based lubricant additive of Hostagliss L4. The mechanism for excellent lubricating characteristics is investigated by combining electrical contact resistance measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and interfacial adsorption behaviour by quartz crystal microbalance. The results indicate that a formed protective film on the contact surface prevents the direct contact of sliding pairs and contributes to the friction reduction and antiwear properties. More importantly, the prepared ILs provide a comparatively green alternative to the traditional halogenated ILs for the water-based lubrication application owing to halogen-, sulphur-, and phosphorus-free. So, these ILs are expected to develop into a highly efficient lubricant additive applied in water-based hydraulic fluids.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Scheme 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wang, J., Wang, J., Li, C., Zhao, G., Wang, X.: Tribological performance of poly (sodium 4-styrenesulphonate) as additive in water–glycol hydraulic fluid. Lubr. Sci. 24(3), 140–151 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tomala, A., Karpinska, A., Werner, W.S.M., Olver, A., Störi, H.: Tribological properties of additives for water-based lubricants. Wear 269(11–12), 804–810 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Espinosa, T., Jiménez, M., Sanes, J., Jiménez, A.-E., Iglesias, M., Bermúdez, M.-D.: Ultra-low friction with a protic ionic liquid boundary film at the water-lubricated sapphire–stainless steel interface. Tribol. Lett. 53(1), 1–9 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhang, C., Zhang, S., Yu, L., Zhang, Z., Wu, Z., Zhang, P.: Preparation and tribological properties of water-soluble copper/silica nanocomposite as a water-based lubricant additive. Appl. Surf. Sci. 259, 824–830 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Westerholt, A., Weschta, M., Bösmann, A., Tremmel, S., Korth, Y., Wolf, M., Schlücker, E., Wehrum, N., Lennert, A., Uerdingen, M.: Halide-free synthesis and tribological performance of oil-miscible ammonium and phosphonium-based ionic liquids. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 3(5), 797–808 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Barnhill, W.C., Qu, J., Luo, H., Meyer III, H.M., Ma, C., Chi, M., Papke, B.L.: Phosphonium-organophosphate ionic liquids as lubricant additives: effects of cation structure on physicochemical and tribological characteristics. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6(24), 22585–22593 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Zhou, Y., Dyck, J., Graham, T.W., Luo, H., Leonard, D.N., Qu, J.: Ionic liquids composed of phosphonium cations and organophosphate, carboxylate, and sulfonate anions as lubricant antiwear additives. Langmuir 30(44), 13301–13311 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hallett, J.P., Welton, T.: Room-temperature ionic liquids: solvents for synthesis and catalysis. Chem. Rev. 111(5), 3508–3576 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gusain, R., Gupta, P., Saran, S., Khatri, O.P.: Halogen-free bis (imidazolium)/bis (ammonium)-di [bis (salicylato) borate] ionic liquids as energy-efficient and environmentally friendly lubricant additives. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6(17), 15318–15328 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Karmakar, G., Ghosh, P.: Soybean oil as a biocompatible multifunctional additive for lubricating oil. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 3(1), 19–25 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ohno, H.: Electrochemical Aspects of Ionic Liquids. Wiley, New York (2011)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  12. Minami, I.: Ionic liquids in tribology. Molecules 14(6), 2286–2305 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhou, F., Liang, Y., Liu, W.: Ionic liquid lubricants: designed chemistry for engineering applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 38(9), 2590–2599 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Wang, H., Lu, Q., Ye, C., Liu, W., Cui, Z.: Friction and wear behaviors of ionic liquid of alkylimidazolium hexafluorophosphates as lubricants for steel/steel contact. Wear 256(1), 44–48 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ye, C., Liu, W., Chen, Y., Yu, L.: Room-temperature ionic liquids: a novel versatile lubricant. Chem. Commun. 21, 2244–2245 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, W., Ye, C., Gong, Q., Wang, H., Wang, P.: Tribological performance of room-temperature ionic liquids as lubricant. Tribol. Lett. 13(2), 81–85 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Phillips, B., Zabinski, J.: Ionic liquid lubrication effects on ceramics in a water environment. Tribol. Lett. 17(3), 533–541 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sanes, J., Carrion, F., Bermudez, M., Martinez-Nicolas, G.: Ionic liquids as lubricants of polystyrene and polyamide 6-steel contacts. Preparation and properties of new polymer-ionic liquid dispersions. Tribol. Lett. 21(2), 121–133 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Xie, G., Liu, S., Guo, D., Wang, Q., Luo, J.: Investigation of the running-in process and friction coefficient under the lubrication of ionic liquid/water mixture. Appl. Surf. Sci. 255(12), 6408–6414 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jimenez, A., Bermudez, M., Carrion, F., Martinez-Nicolas, G.: Room temperature ionic liquids as lubricant additives in steel–aluminium contacts: influence of sliding velocity, normal load and temperature. Wear 261(3), 347–359 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bermúdez, M.-D., Jiménez, A.-E., Sanes, J., Carrión, F.-J.: Ionic liquids as advanced lubricant fluids. Molecules 14(8), 2888–2908 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Somers, A.E., Howlett, P.C., MacFarlane, D.R., Forsyth, M.: A review of ionic liquid lubricants. Lubricants 1(1), 3–21 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cai, M., Liang, Y., Zhou, F., Liu, W.: A novel imidazolium salt with antioxidation and anticorrosion dual functionalities as the additive in poly (ethylene glycol) for steel/steel contacts. Wear 306(1), 197–208 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Qu, J., Bansal, D.G., Yu, B., Howe, J.Y., Luo, H., Dai, S., Li, H., Blau, P.J., Bunting, B.G., Mordukhovich, G., Smolenski, D.J.: Antiwear performance and mechanism of an oil-miscible ionic liquid as a lubricant additive. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 4(2), 997–1002 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ionic Liquids, I.: Fundamentals, progress, challenges, and opportunities: properties and structure. In: ACS Symposium Series, 2005

  26. Bogdanovich, P., Tkachuk, D.: Temperature distribution over contact area and “hot spots” in rubbing solid contact. Tribol. Int. 39(11), 1355–1360 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Omotowa, B.A., Phillips, B.S., Zabinski, J.S., Shreeve, J.N.M.: Phosphazene-based ionic liquids: synthesis, temperature-dependent viscosity, and effect as additives in water lubrication of silicon nitride ceramics. Inorg. Chem. 43(17), 5466–5471 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Tourné-Péteilh, C., Devoisselle, J.-M., Vioux, A., Judeinstein, P., In, M., Viau, L.: Surfactant properties of ionic liquids containing short alkyl chain imidazolium cations and ibuprofenate anions. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13(34), 15523–15529 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Song, Z., Yu, Q., Cai, M., Huang, G., Yao, M., Li, D., Liang, Y., Fan, M., Zhou, F.: Green ionic liquid lubricants prepared from anti-inflammatory drug. Tribol. Lett. 60(3), 1–11 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Beran, E.: Effect of chemical structure on the hydrolytic stability of lubricating base oils. Tribol. Int. 43(12), 2372–2377 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Huang, G., Yu, Q., Cai, M., Zhou, F., Liu, W.: Highlighting the effect of interfacial interaction on tribological properties of supramolecular gel lubricants. Adv. Mater. Interfaces 3(3), 1500489 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. NIST Standard Reference Database 20, Version 3.5. http://srdata.nist.gov/xps/. Accessed 16 July 2012

  33. Cai, M., Zhao, Z., Liang, Y., Zhou, F., Liu, W.: Alkyl imidazolium ionic liquids as friction reduction and anti-wear additive in polyurea grease for steel/steel contacts. Tribol. Lett. 40(2), 215–224 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Watts, E., Krim, J., Widom, A.: Experimental observation of interfacial slippage at the boundary of molecularly thin films with gold substrates. Phys. Rev. B 41(6), 3466 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Baba, A., Kaneko, F., Advincula, R.C.: Polyelectrolyte adsorption processes characterized in situ using the quartz crystal microbalance technique: alternate adsorption properties in ultrathin polymer films. Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 173(1), 39–49 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Rodahl, M., Höök, F., Fredriksson, C., Keller, C.A., Krozer, A., Brzezinski, P., Voinova, M., Kasemo, B.: Simultaneous frequency and dissipation factor QCM measurements of biomolecular adsorption and cell adhesion. Faraday Discuss. 107, 229–246 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Singh, T., Kumar, A.: Aggregation behavior of ionic liquids in aqueous solutions: effect of alkyl chain length, cations, and anions. J. Phys. Chem. B 111, 7843–7851 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Łuczak, J., Hupkaa, J., Thomingb, J., Jungnickel, C.: Self-organization of imidazolium ionic liquids in aqueous solution. Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 329, 125–133 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Liu, X., Zhou, G., Huo, F., Wang, J., Zhang, S.: Unilamellar vesicle formation and microscopic structure of ionic liquids in aqueous solutions. J. Phys. Chem. B 120, 659–666 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Espinosa, T., Sanes, J., Jiménez, A.-E., Bermúdez, M.-D.: Protic ammonium carboxylate ionic liquid lubricants of OFHC copper. Wear 303(1), 495–509 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Perkin, S.: Ionic liquids in confined geometries. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 14(15), 5052–5062 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51675512, 51405477 and 51227804), Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (Grant Nos. 1606RJZA051) and ‘‘973’’ program (2013CB632301).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yurong Wang, Qiangliang Yu, Meirong Cai, Lei Shi, Feng Zhou & Weimin Liu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yurong Wang

Authors
  1. Yurong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qiangliang Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Meirong Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lei Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Feng Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Weimin Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Meirong Cai or Feng Zhou.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, Y., Yu, Q., Cai, M. et al. Ibuprofen-Based Ionic Liquids as Additives for Enhancing the Lubricity and Antiwear of Water–Ethylene Glycol Liquid. Tribol Lett 65, 55 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-017-0840-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-017-0840-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation