Eco-friendly lubricants for tribological application

Abstract

Tribology is branch of science and engineering regarding the assessment of interaction between moving surfaces. Tribology also involves studies of friction, lubrication, and wear and the development of the technology to reduce the negative aspects of operation. Tribology integrates the material science concept with mechanical developments. During the tribological interactions on solid surface's material undergo different type losses in terms of 'wear' like friction, abrasion, erosion and corrosion. Another important loss that is also associated with wear is the energy loss due to heat generation. Lubrication concept was introduced to reduce the effect of wear, in general to reduce the frictional interaction. Hence the issue of wear can be diminished by modifying the surface properties of solids (surface finishing) or by the use of lubricants (adhesive wear). From the early 1990s, tribological developments have spread its wings covering a broad area, and different branches have been launched including nano-tribology, bio-tribology, and green tribology. Green tribology deals with the ecological aspects of friction, lubrication and wear. Though the typical application of green tribology involves in bearing design for automotive sectors but can also be incorporated in personal care formulations. In the present chapter, details about the green lubricants, synthesis aspects, and nature of stocks for lubricant base have been discussed in details. Specific emphasis has been given on the novel unique resource material as lubricant base and as lubricant additives which have the potential of superior performance at reasonable price and reduced energy wastage as well as less impact on environment.