Because
of the high synthesis cost, strong chemical inertness,
complex process, and easy to endanger environment of traditional carbon-based
nanolubricant additives, the development of its application in lubrication
is limited. Therefore, a new type of lubricant additive with low cost,
high yield, high performance, and environmental protection is urgently
needed. Herein, a kilogram-scale carbon dots (CDs) lubricant additive
was prepared by a simple and green one-step reaction of aldol condensation,
which showed excellent lubricating properties in water and sunflower
oil. The tribological properties of the CDs lubricant additive at
different concentrations, loads, and speeds were systematically studied.
The results show that the average friction coefficient of water is
significantly reduced by 75% by a CDs lubricant additive. In particular,
CDs not only exhibited excellent service life and lubrication stability
during friction but also kept the friction coefficient change rate
of sunflower seed oil close to 0 within 500 min. According to the
tribological evaluation and wear surface analysis, the lubrication
mechanism of CDs was attributed to their own morphological characteristics
and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface. In
the friction process, the charge adsorption effect, the adsorption
protective film, and the hydrogen bonding layer are generated, which
play an essential role in obvious antiwear and friction reduction.
Therefore, this work provides a reference for the preparation of high-performance
and high-yield lubricant additives.