Physicochemical, traction and tribofilm formation properties of three octanoate-, laurate- and palmitate-anion based ionic liquids.

Three new ionic liquids with different anions and the same cation were synthesized from fatty acids through a metathesis reaction. All the ionic liquids were identified via NMR and FTIR and several properties (density, viscosity, thermal, and environmental) were measured. Traction tests were performed under different entrainment speeds (10–2000 mm/s), at slide-roll ratio (SRR) of 50% and 30 N-load, and at different temperatures (40, 60, 80 and 100 °C) using a mini-traction machine (MTM). Tribofilm formation tests were also made in the MTM at 50 N-load, 150 mm/s of entrainment speed, at SRR of 50% and temperature of 100 °C, for 60 min. This work showed that the alkyl chain length in the anion affects properties such as viscosity, toxicity, biodegradability and lubrication. Viscosity decreased with increasing alkyl chain length but only below 60 °C, at higher temperatures the viscosity values of the ionic liquids converge. The toxicity increases with the alkyl chain length; whereas, biodegradability shows the opposite behavior. These novel ionic liquids are much better from both toxicity and biodegradability points of view than the [N8881][TFSI] ionic liquid, which contains the same cation and anion not coming from fatty acids. The ionic liquids at low temperature (40 °C) performed under elastohydrodynamic lubrication and changed to mixed lubrication at higher temperatures and decreasing speeds, according to the alkyl chain length of each anion. All ionic liquids adsorbed on the steel surfaces, and the tribofilm thickness and the kinetics of formation were different. Unlabelled Image • Anion alkyl chain length has no influence on thermal stability. • Using carboxylic esters derived from natural sources results in more biodegradable ILs. • Increase in the length of alkyl chain led to a rise in toxicity. • [N 8881 ][C 12:0 ] showed lower traction coefficient at low speeds. • All FAILs studied formed a tribofilm with increasing thickness with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]