Preliminary Study of Nano- and Microscale TiO2 Additives on Tribological Behavior of Chemically Modified Rapeseed Oil

This study compared the tribological evaluation of chemically modified rapeseed oil as a potential biodegradable automotive lubricant with and without nano- and microscale titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles, focusing on the influence of TiO2 particles to improve the friction reduction and antiwear characteristics of chemically modified rapeseed oil. TiO2 nano- and microscale particles of anatase phase and rutile phase were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further, the analysis of chemically modified rapeseed oil with and without TiO2 additives was carried out to determine its tribological behavior using a pin-on-disc tribometer. The experimental results showed that the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited good friction reduction and antiwear properties compared with the addition of microscale TiO2 and without TiO2 additives to chemically modified rapeseed oil. Nanoscale TiO2 is suitable as an antiwear additive in chemically modified rapeseed oil.