Effect Of Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanoplates On The Tribological Properties Of The Lubricant

Authors

• Mohmed Ramadan Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at Helwan, Helwan University, Helwan 11795, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9792-6675
• Mostafa Maher Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at Helwan, Helwan University, Helwan 11795, Egypt
• Hanafy Mansour Mechanical Design Department, Faculty of Engineering at Mataria, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt
• Waheed Yosry Ali Department of Production Engineering and Mechanical Design, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, Minia 61519, Egypt

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30678/fjt.159791

Keywords:

Friction, Wear, rGO, Nano plates

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide has Excellent frictional properties and stable dispersion in oil, which encourages its use as nano-additives for lubricants. Through this research, the use of different concentrations of reduced graphene oxide was studied in order to reach the optimum concentration and thus the high-efficiency lubricant. The base oil used was paraffin. The tribological properties of the lubricant were studied using a cross-pins test rig. The wear was assessed by measuring the scar diameter of worn surfaces of samples. More wear analysis was accomplished using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). EDS mapping was performed for the worn surfaces of carbon steel (St. 60) samples lubricated with paraffin oil and solid nano-additives of RGO. The results showed that when the concentration of reduced graphene oxide was very low, the dominant effect was the oil effect only. Also, when the concentration of reduced graphene oxide nano sheets was very high, the accumulation of rGO inside the oil occurred, which disallowed the creation of a protective layer on the friction surfaces. At optimum concentration of reduced graphene oxide, rGO can easily absorbed by the friction surfaces, forming tribofilm without the need to physical deposition. This research indicates that RGO significantly enhanced the tribological properties of lubricants.