Study on preparation of modified lubricant containing nano-Schiff base and Schiff base copper complex in W/O microemulsion reactor

A successful preparation of Schiff base and Schiff base copper complex was carried out directly in polar base oil (vegetable oil) using a water/oil microemulsion reactor. The prepared nanometer sized Schiff base and Schiff base copper complex dispersed uniformly and spontaneously in the oil. The nanometer sized particles of the Cu(II) chelate of bissalicylaldehyde-ethylenediamine and the bissalicylaldehyde-ethylenediamine in oil were observed directly by SEM. Owing to a modification of the polar base oil (vegetable oil) by 1 wt % of nano-scale Cu(II) chelate of bissalicylaldehyde-ethylenediamine and 1 wt % of bissalicylaldehyde-ethylenediamine, the last nonseizure load had gone up 40% over that of the original ones. It was verified by AES analysis that steel/steel rubbing pairs went through a selective transfer process under lubrication with the modified polar lubricant. It was suggested that the mechanism of the improvement of tribological characteristics of the modified lubricant was selective transfer effect. An antibacterial activity of the modified lubricant was inspected also.