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Reactivity of Triphenyl Phosphorothionate in Lubricant Oil Solution

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Abstract

Investigating the thermo-oxidative reactivity of anti-wear additives in lubricant oil solution at high temperature can significantly contribute to an understanding of the mechanism of thermal film and tribofilm formation on metal surfaces. In this study, the reactivity of triphenyl phosphorothionate (TPPT) in lubricant oil solution at high temperature (423 and 473 K) has been studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results show that the TPPT molecule was highly thermally stable and did not completely decompose in oil solution even upon heating at 423 K for 168 h and at 473 K for 72 h. The degradation of the TPPT molecule, which turned out to be a first-order reaction, started taking place after 6 h at both temperatures, leading to the breakage of the P=S bond with the formation of triphenyl phosphate. During these heating experiments, no oil-insoluble compounds were detected. The oxidation of the base oil as a result of the prolonged heating demonstrated that the TPPT molecule did not effectively act as oxidation inhibitor.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the ETH Research Committee for its support of this work. Dr. H. Camenzind (Ciba® Speciality Chemicals, Basel, Switzerland) is thanked for supplying the pure additive. Mrs. D. Sutter and Mr. M. Schneider kindly performed the NMR and the elemental analysis, respectively.

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  1. Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, HCI H 523, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Filippo Mangolini, Antonella Rossi & Nicholas D. Spencer

  2. Dipartimento di Chimica Inorganica ed Analitica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, INSTM Unit—Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, 09100, Cagliari, Italy

    Antonella Rossi

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  1. Filippo Mangolini
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Correspondence to Nicholas D. Spencer.

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Mangolini, F., Rossi, A. & Spencer, N.D. Reactivity of Triphenyl Phosphorothionate in Lubricant Oil Solution. Tribol Lett 35, 31–43 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-009-9429-3

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