Evaluation of the lubricating power of chemical modified Sesame oil additivated with Cu and Al2O3 nanoparticles

Abstract

Biolubricant from modified sesame oil (Sesamumindicum L.) was produced. The lubricant base consists of a mixture in a volume ratio of 74 parts of epoxidized sesame and 26 parts of transesterified sesame oil. This mixture was characterized by FT-IR, thermo-oxidative stability was determined and heating and cooling curves were performed, where a crystallization and solidification temperature of -8 °C was obtained. To improve the lubricating capacity of the oil blend concentrations of 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20% of copper nanoparticles (NPsCu) and alumina nanoparticles (NPsAl2O3) were added, which had been subjected to tribological tests for the wear scar measurement and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The addition of NPsCu and NPsAl2O3 improved the lubricating power of oil base-stock. The NPsCu percentage in modified sesame oil that showed the best lubricating performance was in the interval between 0.15-0.2; as for the oil with NPs2O3 better result was obtained with 0,05% of NPs.