Tribological performance of tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide as neat lubricant and as an additive in a polar oil

The ionic liquid(IL) tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide([N4441][NTf2]) was used as neat lubricant and as an additive(1.5 wt%) in a polar oil to study its friction and wear reducing properties.Tribological tests were completed for 90 minutes at room temperature and 100 °C in a reciprocating configuration at loads of 30 and 70 N,10 Hz-frequency,and 4 mm stroke length.Wear volume was measured by confocal microscopy and the surface-IL interaction determined by XPS.The main findings were that neat IL showed the best tribological behavior;the IL-containing mixture behaved similar to the base oil regarding friction,however outperformed the antiwear behavior of the base oil under higher temperature;surface-IL chemical interaction was found mainly at 100 °C.