The Tribological Properties of Water Lubricated Ceramics with Silica Nanoparticle Additives

Abstract

Water lubricated ceramics exhibited excellent tribological properties such as super lubricity and good thermal stability. However, long running-in period and low load-carrying capacity limited the application of water lubricated ceramics. Silica nanoparticles have been shown to be highly effective additives for oil lubrication. And because of their economic efficiency, eco-friendliness and excellent tribological properties, silica nanoparticles are considered to be great potential additives for water-based lubricant, especially for ceramic lubrication. Here, we present an exploratory study on silica nanoparticles as water-based lubricant additives for ceramic lubrication. Different silica nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and added into water as additives. The tribological properties of silica nanoparticles as water based lubricant additives were tested. The tribological mechanism of silica nanoparticles was analyzed. It was found that silica nanoparticles dispersed well and kept stable in water. Both the running-in period and the stable period were influenced by silica nanoparticles. With the optimal 5 wt. % amino modified silica nanoparticles added into the water lubricant, the running-in time dropped by 97.0% and the average friction coefficient by 86.6% compared with the pure water.