The Tribological Performance of Bio-Based Room Temperature Ionic Liquid Lubricants: A Possible Next Step in Biolubricant Technology

Historically, biolubricants have evolved from natural oils derived from vegetables to currently used bio-based synthetic room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) that represent a possible next step in biolubricant technology. Natural oils have been used since antiquity due to their high lubricity. As industrial applications become more complex, a desire for more sophisticated lubricants was satisfied with the advent of polyalphaolefins and synthetic ethers. Currently, room temperature ionic liquid lubricants derived from bio-based feedstock represent a promising potential solution to many of the problems associated with previous biolubricants. In this study, the tribological performance of ionic liquids and other comparative lubricants were investigated using a pin-on-disk tribomete