With
the rise of carbon neutrality, the applications of carbon-based
materials are gaining considerable attention. Graphene oxide (GO)
is a two-dimensional sheet with epoxy and hydroxyl groups on the basal
plane and carboxyl groups at the edge. In order to change the oil/water
(o/w) interfacial activity, GO was controlled and modified by dodecylamine
to get two kinds of functionalized GOs (fGOs), named as basal plane-functionalized
GO (bGO) and edge-functionalized GO (eGO), respectively. The interfacial
tension measurement showed that fGOs could reduce more interfacial
tension at the poly-α-olefin/water interface than those at synthetic
esters or aromatic compounds/water interfaces. Besides, eGO can reduce
more poly-α-olefin-4/water interfacial tension compared to bGO.
The interfacial dilatational rheology of eGO and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene
ether-4 (MOA4) showed that MOA4 gradually replaced eGO at the interface
with the increase of MOA4, until the interface was completely occupied.
eGO and MOA4 complex emulsion exhibited the best friction-reducing
performance at 250 rpm. The coefficient of friction (COF) curves of
the emulsions with eGO showed two platforms, with the COF reduced
by 37.42% at the most. The rheological results of emulsions showed
that the addition of eGO increased the elasticity of the emulsion.
Emulsions showed shear-thinning and friction-thickening properties,
which make it easier for the emulsion to form a lubricating film on
the metal surface. Our research results suggested that the functionalization
on the edge of GO will change the interfacial properties significantly,
which have widespread applications in the encapsulation of active
materials, surface protection, adsorption, and separation of pollutants.