Friction and wear behavior of thioether hydroxy vegetable oil

Abstract This work describes the tribochemical evaluation of vegetable oil based antiwear additive obtained through chemical modification. The Sulfur was incorporated using a chemical reaction of epoxidized vegetable oil and common thiols, resulting in formation of a hydroxy thioether derivative of vegetable oils. The synthesis retains the vegetable oil structure, eliminates poly-unsaturation in the molecule, and adds polar functional groups that significantly improve adsorption on metal surfaces. These additives are obtained by chemical modification of oils originated from natural resources. The tribochemical behavior of sulfur incorporated vegetable oil was studied by measuring friction coefficient using ball-on-disk configuration and wear scar diameter using four-ball configuration. Comparative tests with commercial antiwear additives demonstrate the effectiveness of these derivatives. The derivatives were found useful as agriculturally based antiwear additives for lubricant applications.