Viscosity Modification of High-Oleic Sunflower Oil with Polymeric Additives for the Design of New Biolubricant Formulations

Although most common lubricants contain mineral or synthetic oils as basestocks, new environmental regulations are demanding environmentally friendly lubricants. In this sense, vegetable oils represent promising alternatives to mineral-based lubricants because of their high biodegradability, good lubricity, and low volatility. However, their poor thermooxidative stability and the small range of viscosity represent a clear disadvantage to be used as suitable biolubricants. The main objective of this work was to develop new environmentally friendly lubricant formulations with improved kinematic viscosity values and viscosity thermal susceptibility. With this aim, a high-oleic sunflower oil (HOSO)was blended with polymeric additives, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymers, at different concentrations (0.5-5% w/w). Dynamic viscosity and density measurements were performed in a rotational rheometer and capillary densimeter, respectively, in a temperature range between 25 and 120 degrees C. An Arrhenius-like equation fits the evolution of viscosity with temperature fairly well. Both EVA and SBS copolymers may be satisfactorily used as additives to increase the viscosity of HOSO, thus improving the low viscosity values of this oil. HOSO viscosity increases with polymer concentration. Specifically, EVA/HOSO blends exhibit higher viscosity values, which are needed for applications such as lubrication of bearings and four-stroke engines. On the other hand, viscosity thermal susceptibility of HOSO samples increases with EVA or SBS concentration.