Background. In recent years, requirements for the properties of lubricants and their components are increasing. Attention is paid to the impact of lubricants on the environment. Urea greases fully meet the high requirements for the properties of lubricants. The development of greases of this class and vegetable oil-based additives should solve the environmental problems of their use.
Objective. The purpose of the paper is development of urea greases and their components using raw materials of plant origin.
Methods. A number of protective additives to lubricants were obtained by epoxidation of vegetable oils and introduction of nitrogen-containing fragments on the carbonyl group and epoxy ring. Amidation of triacylglycerides of vegetable oils with ethylenediamine synthesized monoaminoamides of fatty acids of linear structure. Urea thixotropic systems are synthesized by the interaction of polyisocyanate with fatty acid monoaminoamides in petroleum oil. Synthesized additives in various quantities were introduced into the composition of the investigated products in order to check the operational properties of the finished greases.
Results. The obtained greases are characterized by a high level of mechanical and colloidal stability. Their composition and chemical structure were established by a set of spectrometric methods of analysis. The upper temperature limit of application of the synthesized urea in the range of 150–200 °С is established by the method of derivatographic analysis. It is established that the combination of urea thickener and vegetable oil-based additives allows obtaining urea greases with high thermal stability, improved protective and antioxidant characteristics. The use of environmentally friendly oleochemical products in the composition of the thickener and lubricant additives improves the biodegradability of the developed grease composition.
Conclusions. It is shown that the proposed series of vegetable oil transformations allows obtaining ready-made compositions of urea greases and their components using raw materials of natural origin. The obtained products have satisfactory operational properties and according to some indicators industrial analogues prevail. This allows us to recommend the developed urea oils as substitutes for commercial products.