Assessing the Lubrication Performance of Sunflower Oil Modified With Montmorillonite Clay (MMT) Nanoparticles for Industrial Applications

Because of the environmental impact and price volatility, there has been a growing concern about using petroleum-based lubricants. This issue has encouraged research into the development of biodegradable lubricants like vegetable oils. This study assessed the tribological behavior of sunflower oil modified with Montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT) as lubricant additives. A block-on-ring tribometer was used to assess the wear and friction characteristics of the nano-lubricants. A custom-made tapping torque tester was used to evaluate the nano-lubricants in a real-world application. It was found that the volumetric wear, Coefficient of Friction, and torque of the system decreased when MMT nanoparticles were added. The experimental results indicated that sunflower oil modified with 2.0 wt.% MMT exhibited the best tribological behavior, reducing COF and wear volume loss by 88% and 63%, respectively. Based on the results, the newly developed sunflower oil-based nano-lubricants, with the addition of MMT nanoclay, could be a promising environmentally friendly solution to compete with petroleum-based lubricants.