Water-based lubricant containing protic ionic liquids and talc lubricant particles: Wear and corrosion analysis

Water-based lubricants have been used in different industrial applications in recent years. However, studies evaluating the tribological and electrochemical effects of lubricants with Protic Ionic Liquid (PIL) and talc particles (TC) as additives on SAE 1010 and SAE 1045 steels are still scarce in the literature, which is the objective of this work. Samples extracted from steel sheets were investigated in the normalized (SAE 1010) and quenched-tempered (SAE 1045) conditions. Wear tests in a ball-on-plate type tribometer and corrosion tests using potentiondynamic polarization curves were performed in the presence of different lubricant solutions (PIL 3% + DI water, commercial lubricant 3% + DI water, with and without talc particle additions 0.05 and 0.1 wt%). Analyses of viscosity, pH, wettability, and particle size distribution were conduted on the lubricant and talc samples. Wear and corrosion surfaces were analyzed by SEM/EDS, and Raman techniques. The results showed that the tribofilm formed from the interaction between PIL lubricants and steel substrates decreased the wear due to the increase of lubricity of these lubricants. When the PIL and the commercial lubricants are compared, PIL additives presented higher performance, despite the talc addition. The influence of talc on the corrosion of steel is associated with the differential aeration effect, mitigated by adding the PIL.