Synthesis and tribological behaviour of oleic acid-capped lanthanum borate/graphene oxide nanocomposites

The lanthanum borate/graphene oxide (LB/GO) nanocomposites were obtained by GO decorated by LB using an eco-friendly hydrothermal method. For improving the oil solubility of the LB/GO nanocomposites, the oleic acid (OA)-capped LB/GO (OA-LB/GO) nanocomposites were achieved. The as-prepared nanocomposites were determined by a series of characterisations such as Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman, UV-vis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and SEM. The results indicated that most of LB nanoparticles with the size of 50-100nm were well loaded on the surface of GO nanosheets. In addition, the tribological properties of the as-prepared nanocomposites were tested by a four-ball friction machine. The results demonstrated that the OA-LB/GO nanocomposites were of good anti-wear ability and excellent load-carrying capacity. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.