Effects of Additive Type, Water Addition, Temperature and Pressure on the Phases Formed by the Lubricant Additives

This proposal is part of the InnovaXN PhD project XN2020-ESRF04 between the University of Leeds, Infineum UK Ltd. and ID31. Organic friction modifiers (OFMs) are sustainable lubricant additives that are expected to replace current metal thiophosphate additives. However, the molecular basis for reduction of wear by OFMs is not well understood, with few studies performed in situ under conditions of friction (i.e. high temperature, shear and pressure). High-pressure X-ray reflectivity studies of interfacial phases formed by solutions of chosen OFMs in dodecane (a model for the lubricant base oil) in the absence and presence of water on silica surfaces will be performed to evaluate the influence of pressure (1-30 bar) and temperature (20-180°C) on the adsorption of these friction modifiers and compared with benchtop tribological tests.