Eco-friendly Vegetable Lubricant with Self-healing Tribofilms: Inspiration from Chinese Wok Seasoning

Green technologies are required to replace the highly polluting mineral and synthetic oils currently dominating the lubrication markets. We have developed intelligent, green oil formulations based on conventional vegetable oils using a unique characterization system, drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese cooking and the Earth's natural processes. In addition, we have designed green formulations to outperform similar mineral-oil formulations under extreme lubricating conditions.

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Friction is an inherent energy loss that humanity has been fighting against since pre-history. However, the current mineral lubricants to mitigate friction are potentially creating as many problems as they are solving because mineral oils are as environmentally damaging as the additives used to enhance their performance. Therefore, new carbon-neutral solutions are required.

Our solution is inspired by the fact that vegetable oil can create a functioning non-stick, low friction surface on a Chinese wok by seasoning it at elevated temperatures. The Eureka moment came when we figured that our unique in-situ technique for co-located mechanical property and chemical composition characterization might provide us with a path. Using this novel characterization technique, we optimize our vegetable oil formulations with soothing ingredients to spontaneously generate self-healing protective films while functioning as a high-performance lubricating system. Chinese Steel Company assisted us in evaluating the tribological performance. As a result, our green formulations can outperform similar mineral-oil formulations under extreme lubricating conditions.