Abstract
Lubricants are complex fluids consisting of a base oil and many different additives, and are used to control friction and wear between solid inorganic surfaces in relative motion. A review of recent work on molecular simulations of lubricants is given. It is shown that simulations can be used to uncover a lot
of interesting behaviour, including additive adsorption, additive self-assembly,
and a competition between the two. The specific examples to be discussed
are: the adsorption of stearic acid and oleic acid in squalane on iron-oxide surfaces; the self-assembly of glycerol monooleate in bulk n-heptane; the adsorption and friction of glycerol monooleate in squalane on iron-oxide surfaces; and the conformations of functionalised copolymers in bulk n-heptane. The structures adopted by the additives can be correlated with the observed frictional properties, opening up the possibility of molecular-level design of new lubricants. Keywords: adsorption; self-assembly; friction; lubricants; molecular dynamics simulations
of interesting behaviour, including additive adsorption, additive self-assembly,
and a competition between the two. The specific examples to be discussed
are: the adsorption of stearic acid and oleic acid in squalane on iron-oxide surfaces; the self-assembly of glycerol monooleate in bulk n-heptane; the adsorption and friction of glycerol monooleate in squalane on iron-oxide surfaces; and the conformations of functionalised copolymers in bulk n-heptane. The structures adopted by the additives can be correlated with the observed frictional properties, opening up the possibility of molecular-level design of new lubricants. Keywords: adsorption; self-assembly; friction; lubricants; molecular dynamics simulations
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of molecular liquids |
| Early online date | 28 Dec 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 28 Dec 2018 |