Lubricant property evaluation of electrical conductive rice bran oil-based lubricant with dioctyl ammonium oleate ionic liquid as an additive

The growing environmental consciousness and research into green lubricant technology in various industries has drawn a lot of attention to vegetable oils. The major negative aspect of vegetable oil is its poor oxidation stability. Recent research in ionic liquids (ILs) showed its potential as a base fluid and additive for lubricant applications. These are organic salts that dissolve at temperatures below 100°C. Among the potential characteristics of ILs are their non-volatility, high oxidation stability, non-flammability, and high conductivity to heat and electricity. The present study synthesized a protic ionic liquid named dioctyl ammonium oleate (DAO). The optimum DAO percentage in rice bran oil (RBO) was then optimized based on the tribological properties. The electrical conductivity and basic lubricant properties, such as physicochemical, oxidation stability, corrosion stability, thermal properties, and extreme pressure capability of the optimized RBO-DAO blend were evaluated and compared with RBO. The developed RBO-DAO blend shows the potential to be used as a base fluid for electrical conductive lubricants due to its significantly enhanced electrical conductivity, better oxidation stability, and superior tribological properties. The optimum DAO weight percentage in RBO is 2 wt%. The results show the potential of electrical conductive lubricant developed to enhance the performance of electrical equipment, reduce static electricity in industrial machinery, and prevent lubricant degradation in the presence of electric current. The components of electric vehicles, such as bearings, pads, seals, and gear, also require electrical conductive lubricants to avoid premature failure and electromagnetic interference problems. The developed lubricant can be considered a potential alternative in various industries such as automotive, renewable systems, medical devices, robotics, high-speed machining, and so forth.