Insight into Hydrolytic Stability and Tribological Properties of B-N Coordination Tung Oil-Based Lubricant Additive in Water

A tung oil-based boron-nitrogen coordination polymer (TWE-BN) was specially designed and synthesized as a highly efficient water-based lubricant additive, which has been beneficial to both energy conservation and conducive to environmental protection. Its hydrolysis stability and tribological properties in water were investigated. To better research the lubricating properties, and thus to understand the interaction between the surface and the lubricating additives. Herein, both experimental and theoretical computations based on density functional theory (DFT) were performed. The addition of TWE-BN reduces the water friction coefficient and wear scar diameter, and the maximum non-seizure load increased from 93 to 726 N. Moreover, the anti-corrosion ability on copper was classified as 1b level. The stainless-steel surface was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In hydrolytic stability testing, TWE-BN was better than nitrogen-free tung oil-based lubricant additive (TWE-B) and remained non-hydrolyzed for at least 15 days, implying the feasibility of tung oil-based boron-nitrogen coordination as highly effective and hydrolytic stability lubricant additives.