Industrial Lubrication and Tribology

Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles as lubricant additives under the applied electric currents
Lina Si, Yan Pan, Xiaoqing Zhang, Jie Wang, Jia Yao, Yanjie Wang, Fengbin Liu, Feng He,
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Lina Si, Yan Pan, Xiaoqing Zhang, Jie Wang, Jia Yao, Yanjie Wang, Fengbin Liu, Feng He, (2018) "Tribological properties of
metallic nanoparticles as lubricant additives under the applied electric currents", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, https://
doi.org/10.1108/ILT-12-2017-0373
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 Tribological properties of metallic
nanoparticles as lubricant additives under the
applied electric currents
Lina Si
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, North China University of Technology, Beijing, China
Yan Pan
Renmin University of China Affiliated High School, Beijing, China
Xiaoqing Zhang
School of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
Jie Wang
Beijing Institute of Astronautical Systems Engineering, Beijing, China
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Jia Yao
High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Yanjie Wang
School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Fengbin Liu
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, North China University of Technology, Beijing, China, and
Feng He
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the effects of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) additives and room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) on the tribological
performance of electric contacts.
Design/methodology/approach – Tribological properties of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) NPs as lubricant additives in different lubricants of ILs or
polyalphaolefin (PAO) oils under applied electric currents were investigated. After tribological tests, morphologies of worn surfaces were observed;
meanwhile, lubrication and anti-wear properties were analyzed.
Findings – The mixture solution of the IL and Cu NPs showed desirable lubrication and anti-wear properties due to the reduction of electrocorrosion and
the enhancement of rolling effects of particles in the contact region. The anti-wear performance of Cu NPs is better than that of Ag NPs due to the
difference in the particle size. The PAO oil with the Cu NPs additives showed poor lubrication properties due to the low solubility of the particles in the oil.
When the direction of applied current was changed, the friction of the lubricant with better conductivity was more stable in the variation trend.
Originality/value – This paper begins with a study of tribological properties of Cu and Ag NPs as lubricant additives in different lubricants of IL or
PAO oils under applied electric currents. The authors then propose several methods and possible solutions which could be implemented to improve
the tribological performance of electric contacts.
Keywords Ionic liquids, Conductive lubricants, Electric contact, Lubrication property, Nanoparticle additives
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction friction and wear properties could be influenced greatly by the

The tribological characteristics of sliding interfaces under
applied electric currents have been widely studied to improve
the tribological performance of electric contacts. The interfacial
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applied electric currents by formation of either reversible
physical adsorption film or irreversible electrochemical reaction
film (or both) (Xie et al., 2015; Huang et al., 2017; Mahmoud
et al., 2010; Xie et al., 2014). For instance, it was reported that
current direction played an important role in altering the wear
rates of the cathode and anode surfaces (Goto, 1995; Lavielle,
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 51775044, 51475256, 51575004 and 51605008).

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology Received 16 January 2018

© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 0036-8792] Revised 7 May 2018
[DOI 10.1108/ILT-12-2017-0373] Accepted 11 June 2018
 Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles
Lina Si et al.
1994; Csapo et al., 1996). One explanation for such a
phenomenon is that for two surfaces with dissimilar metals,
static electric charges could be generated on each surface under
the effect of external current; the interaction force between the
two charged surfaces could increase or offset the normal load.
Moreover, the relations between the wear of cathode surface
and newly formed surface film have been discussed (Senouci
et al., 1999; Yasar et al., 2007; Tu et al., 2009). It is notable that
the impact of electricity varied under boundary lubrication
(Karuppiah et al., 1999; de Wijn et al., 2014; Guriyanova et al.,
2011), thin film lubrication (Xie et al., 2010a; Xie et al., 2011;
Xie et al., 2010b; Xie et al., 2010c) and elastohydrodynamic
lubrication regimes (Wong et al., 2003).
Room temperature ionic liquids (ILs), highly marked by
their non-volatility, inflammability, thermal stability, distinct
solubility and high conductivity, are not only novel materials
applied as solar collector working fluids (Liu et al., 2015) or
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battery electrolytes (Armand et al., 2009), but they also exhibit
satisfying load-carrying, friction-reducing and anti-wear
properties in diverse tribo-pairs (Xie et al., 2009). Another
intriguing material called nanoparticles (NPs), such as copper
(Cu), silver (Ag), Ag-MoS2 and polytetrafluoroethylene,
adding into motor oils, can improve the tribological properties
dramatically. For example, Yu et al. found that with Cu NPs in
lubricant an enhanced lubrication performance could be
achieved due to the fact that a copper-based film was formed
under high temperature and pressure in the rubbing area (Yu
et al., 2008). More interestingly, a series of researches in which
ILs additives and NPs additives were co-dispersed thoroughly
in polymer matrices indicated that the additions of ILs and NPs
led to an obvious decrease in friction coefficient, wear rate and
the residual depth of the scratch groove, improving the
tribological performance obviously (Sanes et al., 2010; Carri
et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2018). The potential cooperation
between ILs lubricants and metallic NPs begins to attract
increasing attention in recent years. For instance, Dewan et al.
managed to synthesize stably dispersed nanocopper in 1-butyl-
3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMIm]PF6, a
typical room temperature ILs)-ethylene glycol system, showing
a possible extension of stability of NPs in ILs (Dewan et al.,
2012).
In the present work, the tribological characteristics of the
combination of ILs and NPs additives under applied electric
current have been discussed using conventional lubricant oil –
polyalphaolefin (PAO) oil with similar viscosity as a contrast.
The objective of this study is to clarify the effects of ILs and
NPs additives on the tribological performance of electric
contacts.
2. Experimental part
The base oils used in this study were [BMIm]PF6 and PAO,
and the additives were Cu NPs (Nanjing Xianfeng; diameter:
20 nm; purity 99.9 Wt.%) and Ag NPs (Nanjing Xianfeng;
diameter: 80-90 nm; purity 99.9 Wt.%). The viscosity of
[BMIm]PF6 is 210 mPa·s (25°C), and the electric conductivity
1.4 mS/cm (Xie et al., 2011). PAO oil is a conventional base oil
which has a close viscosity (189.7 mPa·s) with [BMIm]PF6,
and its electric conductivity is approximately 10 12 mS/cm
(Rosenkranz et al., 2014). First, Cu or Ag NPs of 0.5 g were
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
dissolved into 50 ml [BMIm]PF6 or PAO oil. Because the
dispersibility of NPs and the stability of the mixed solution play
an important role in its tribological performance, the mixed
solution was ultrasonically treated for 15 min to improve the
dispersibility of the NPs. The stability of the mixed solution was
judged by observing its transparency, and no obvious
precipitation can be seen in the stationary solution after 30 min
storage, which was sufficient for tribological tests. Finally, the
mixed solutions were diluted to different concentrations for
further experiments. The pictures of various mixed solutions of
NPs with [BMIm]PF6 or PAO oil keeping for 30 min are
shown in Figure 1(a). It can be seen that there is no
precipitation in the mixed solutions, indicating that NPs has
been dispersed well in the [BMIm]PF6 and PAO oil.
The schematic diagram of a ball-plate tribometers used in
this work is shown in Figure 1(b). Cu sheets were used as the
tested samples, and Cu balls (U 5 mm, roughness: 5 m m) were
used as the counterpart. The electric current provided by a
constant-current power supply (DH1716A DC, Beijing
Dahua) was connected to the copper sheet and the Cu ball. To
avoid the interference of electric wires to the friction force
measurement, one end of the thin copper wire was connected
to the holder of the ball, and the other end connected to the
fixture of the friction force sensor. During the experiments,
different electric currents of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 A were
applied. The effect of the applied current direction on the
friction behavior was also investigated. Positive electric current
was defined as the case that the larger potential was applied to
the sample, and vice versa. A micro-pipette was used to control
the amount of the injected lubricant into the ball and sheet
interface, and a liquid meniscus was then formed at the
interface after being equilibrium, as schematically shown in
on
Figure 1 (a) Pictures of various mixed solutions: 1. ILs, 2. ILs 1 0.05
Wt.% Cu NPs, 3. ILs 1 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs, 4. ILs 1 0.05 Wt.% Ag NPs,
5. ILs 1 0.1 Wt.% Ag NPs, 6. PAO, 7. PAO 1 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs; (b)
schematic diagrams of the tribometers and the capillary bridge at the
lubricated interface
 Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles
Lina Si et al.
Figure 1(b). Reciprocating motion of the sample was used
during the friction experiments and the ball was kept stationary.
The average linear sliding speed was 3 mm/s, and the sliding
length was 10 mm. The applied load during the test was 5 N,
corresponding to a maximum contact pressure of 880 MPa.
Prior to the friction experiments, Cu sheets and balls were
ultrasonically cleaned in acetone and deionized water
successively, and finally dried with pressurized nitrogen gas.
The experiments were conducted under ambient temperature
(25-30°C).
In this article, friction coefficient curves could be
obtained using the ball-plate tribometer. An optical
microscope was used to observe the surface morphologies
of the worn areas of the tested samples. The surface
roughness of Cu sheets before and after tests along and
perpendicular to sliding direction was tested using 3D
surface topography. The wear was evaluated by measuring
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the cross-sectional area and height of the sliding track with
a 3D surface topography at different points. The wear
volume was calculated by multiplying the average track
area by the circumference of the sliding circle. To ensure
that the results are reliable, all experiments were
determined statistically using three test samples per
condition.
3. Results and discussions
3.1 Influences of magnitude of the applied current
Figure 2 shows typical friction coefficient curves obtained with
the ball-plate tribometer under various positive electric
currents. During the friction experiments, reciprocating motion
of the sample was used and the sample was move forth and back
ten times. In this article, we define the forward direction as
Trace and the backward direction as Retrace, as shown in
Figure 2(a). From Figure 2, it can be seen that compared to dry
friction, the friction coefficients lubricated by ILs and mixed
solutions are more sensitive to the magnitude of electric
currents. As the friction time increases, the friction coefficients
of dry friction and that lubricated with mixed solutions of ILs
and NPs keep almost unchanged, while that lubricated with ILs
increases gradually.
Figure 3 shows the average friction coefficients with
different lubricants under different applied positive currents
in magnitude obtained from Figure 2. It can be seen that the
friction coefficient under dry friction grows slightly as
the increase of current. It can be explained by the fact that
as the current grows, metal oxide layers are formed at the
interface, causing the increase of friction. The friction
coefficient after adding ILs is slightly larger than that under
dry friction when the current is relatively small, due to the
capillary force of the formed liquid meniscus. In contrast,
when the current is increased gradually, influences of the
capillary force become less significant because of the
electrospreading effect of the liquid bridge (Xie et al., 2017).
Therefore, the addition of ILs as the lubricant may improve
the lubrication properties to some extent, due to the usage of
lubricant droplet rather than full immersion of the
tribopairs.
The comparison of friction coefficients between the mixed
solution of ILs and 0.05 Wt.% Cu NPs and that of ILs and
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs suggests that the concentration of the
NPs plays an important role in the lubrication performance.
When the NPs concentration is small, the lubricity does not
improve apparently; when the concentration is relatively
larger, obvious reductions in the friction coefficients can be
observed under different electric currents in magnitude. It is
speculated that the reduction of the friction coefficients is
caused by the rolling effects of the particles in lubricant due
to the addition of NPs (Guo et al., 2013). It can be also
confirmed from the morphologies of the worn surfaces
lubricated with two kinds of mixed solutions of ILs and Cu
NPs, as shown in Figure 4, that grinding tracks can be
observed due to the rolling effects of Cu NPs. The lubricant
solution with 0.05 Wt.% Cu NPs shows a few furrows, while
no clear furrow is present on the surface lubricated with the
solution containing 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs, and merely some
slight scratches can be seen. It can be also seen from Figure 4
that the roughness value of Cu sheet at sliding direction
lubricated with mixed solution containing 0.05 Wt.% Cu
NPs is larger than that lubricated with solution containing
0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs. These phenomena indicate that the
increased concentration of NPs can improve the lubrication
property.
Figure 5 shows the wear volume of the Cu sheets under
dry and lubricated conditions with different positive
currents in magnitude. It can be seen that the wear volume
under dry friction increases slightly as the increase of
current, which is coincident with the results of friction
coefficient. The wear after the addition of ILs is the smallest.
The wear volume with the mixed solution of ILs and Cu NPs
increases obviously compared with that under dry friction
and lubricated with ILs. However, the wear volume with a
smaller NPs concentration is larger than that with a larger
NPs concentration.
3.2 Influences of different nanoparticles
Figure 6 shows the average friction coefficients of the
lubricant solutions with different NPs as additives under
varied positive electric currents in magnitude. Figure 7
shows the wear volume of the Cu sheets under various
lubricated conditions with different electric currents in
magnitude. From Figures 6 and 7, it can be seen that in the
case of ILs, the addition of Cu NPs has a better effect on
friction reduction than that of Ag NPs, and the wear
volume lubricated with mixed solution of ILs 1 0.1 Wt.%
Ag NPs is much higher than that lubricated with mixed
solution of ILs 1 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs. As mentioned
previously, the diameter of Cu NPs is around 20 nm, while
that of the Ag NPs is 80-90 nm. Hence, the size difference
has been considered as an important cause of the inferior
lubrication property of Ag NPs as additives because the
large size of the Ag NPs would hinder the rolling effect of
NPs which have been proved helpful for the reduction of
the friction coefficients.
From Figures 6 and 7, it can be also seen that generally the
friction coefficient of the mixed solution with PAO oil and
0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs is the largest, while that of the mixed
solution with ILs and 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs is the smallest. This
is because the solubility of Cu NP in the PAO oil is relatively
low due to the slightly high viscosity of the base oil, and
 Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
Lina Si et al.

Figure 2 Typical friction coefficient curves under dry and lubricated conditions with various positive currents in magnitude
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hence the particles could aggregate locally, which would Figure 3 The average friction coefficient under dry and lubricated
then give rise to the inefficient reduction of the friction conditions with different positive currents in magnitude
coefficient and wear with the mixed solution of PAO oil and
0.30
Cu NPs. Figure 8 shows the optical images of the worn
Dry friction
surfaces lubricated by pure PAO oil and the mixed solution 0.25 ILs
with PAO oil and 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs. Although both surfaces ILs+0.05 wt% Cu NPs
ILs+0.1 wt% Cu NPs
Friction coefficient

have clear scratches, the one lubricated with pure PAO oil 0.20
has shallower scratches as compared with that lubricated
0.15
with the mixed solution. The deeper and extremely uneven
scratches in the latter case confirm that the formation of 0.10
aggregated NPs gives rise to severe damages on the worn
surface. Furthermore, little changes in the friction 0.05
coefficients of the mixed solution with ILs and 0.1 Wt.% Cu
0.00
NPs or the mixed solution with ILs and 0.1 Wt.% Ag NPs 0A 0.1A 0.2A 1.0A
can be noted as the electric current changes, suggesting the Electric current
 Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
Lina Si et al.

Figure 4 The worn surfaces lubricated by mixed solutions with Figure 5 The wear volume of the Cu sheets under dry and lubricated
different concentration of Cu NPs obtained by optical microscope [(a) conditions with different positive currents in magnitude
and (b)] and 3D surface topography [(c) and (d)]: (a), (c) ILs 1 0.05 Wt.
% Cu NPs; (b), (d) ILs 1 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs 500,000 Dry friction
450,000 ILs
ILs+0.05 wt% Cu NPs
400,000
ILs+0.1 wt% Cu NPs

3
Wear volume/µm
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Electric current/A

Figure 6 The average friction coefficients under the lubrication of

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various mixed solutions

0.5
Dry friction
ILs
0.4 ILs+0.1 wt% Cu NPs
ILs+0.1 wt% Ag NPs

Friction Coefficient
PAO
0.3
PAO+0.1 wt% Cu NPs

0.2

0.1

0.0
0A 0.1A 0.5A
Electric current

Figure 7 The wear volume of the Cu sheets under various lubricated

conditions with different electric currents in magnitude
800,000
ILs+0.1 wt% Cu NPs
700,000 ILs+0.1 wt% Ag NPs
PAO+0.1 wt% Cu NPs
600,000
PAO
3
Wear volume/ m

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000
–0.5 –0.4 –0.3 –0.2 –0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Electric current/A

In the case of mixed solutions with ILs and NPs as well as

desirable stability in the friction under the passage of applied
currents. In contrast, the friction coefficient of the mixed
solution with PAO oil and 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs increases with
the applied current.
3.3 Influences of the electric current direction
Figure 9 shows the average friction coefficients of the
lubricants under applied currents with different directions.
the PAO oil and 0.1 Wt.% Cu NPs, the application of
negative electric current in general merely results in a slight
change of the friction coefficient as compared with the
application of positive current. The influence of electric
current direction on friction properties can be mainly
ascribed to the different electrocorrosion behaviors of
the tribopairs. Specifically, when the positive electric
current (i.e. Cu sheets sample with higher potential) is
applied, the Cu sheets would be more easily corroded, while
when the negative electric current is applied, corrosion
 Tribological properties of metallic nanoparticles Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
Lina Si et al.

Figure 8 Optical graphs of the worn surfaces lubricated by PAO oils
without and with Cu NPs
Figure 9 The average friction coefficients under applied currents with
different directions
0.5
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whole sliding track, as the upper ball is fixed, and the sample
sheet is in motion. In contrast, the anodic dissolution on the
upper ball surface is more concentrated, giving rise to a
rapid corrosion on the ball surface into a planar wear scar.
In the case of the pure PAO oil of low conductivity, the
application of the reverse electric current would increase the
friction significantly as compared with the case with positive
electric currents. The mechanism could be explained as:
The corrosion mechanisms on the tribopairs could be
slightly different depending on the lubricant conductivity.
For the lubricant with a relatively good conductivity, the
corrosive effect on the friction property was dominated by
anodic dissolution. In contrast, for the low conductivity
lubricant, e.g. pure PAO oil, the anodic dissolution and its
effect on the friction and wear behaviors becomes less
significant, as verified by the optical images of the worn
tracks lubricated by the PAO oil under the positive and
negative currents in Figure 10. Alternatively, the application

ILs+0.1 wt% Cu NPs of the electric current would cause the buildup of electric
ILs+0.1 wt% Ag NPs
0.4 charges on the tribopair surfaces, which would result in the
PAO+0.1 wt% Cu NPs
PAO discharge across the oil film. The electrons from the cathode
Friction coefficient

0.3 surface could move rapidly toward the anode surface, and
the resulting impacting force would contribute to the
0.2
friction force when the negative current was applied, as
schematically shown in Figure 11.
0.1

0.0 4. Conclusions
0A 0.1A 0.5A –0.1A –0.5A
Electric current 1 The mixed solution of ILs and Cu NPs has desirable
lubrication and anti-wear performances due to the
enhancement of the particles’ rolling effect at the
Figure 10 Optical graphs of the worn surfaces lubricated by PAO oils lubricated interface.
with different current directions 2 The Cu NPs as the lubricant additive shows better
lubrication performance than Ag NPs due to the size
difference of the particles. The relatively low solubility of
NPs in the PAO oil could deteriorate the lubrication
properties.
3 The friction coefficient of the lubrication under the
negative current is slightly higher than that under the
positive current due to the difference in the anodic
dissolution on the tribopair surfaces. When the direction
of the applied current was changed, the lubricant of
relatively good conductivity shows a better stability in
friction due to the absence of capacitive discharge.
Figure 11 The schematic diagram of the friction pairs under the
applied currents with different directions

would occur easily on the Cu ball surface. This can be also
confirmed from Figure 7 that the wear volume of Cu sheet
under positive current is much higher than that under
negative current with the same magnitude of electric
current. The wear on the sheet surface due to
electrocorrosion for the positive electric current is along the
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Further reading
Karuppiah, K.S.K., Zhou, Y.B., Woo, L.K. and Sundararajan,
S. (2009), “Nanoscale friction switches: friction modulation
of monomolecular assemblies using external electric fields”,
Langmuir, Vol. 25 No. 20, pp. 12114-12119.
Corresponding author
Lina Si can be contacted at: silina_thu@163.com