Volume 7 Issue 2 (June 2020)

Due to the strong Van der Waals force, agglomeration will occur to nanoparticles, which added into bio lubricant. Although some studies show that homogeneity in the mixture does not have a significant effect on lubricant behavior in friction reduction, but a more stable mixture is more expected. In experiments, the agglomeration that occurs is observed visually. The disadvantage is that this method is considered inefficient because of time-consuming. This study is aimed to assess this agglomeration phenomenon using molecular dynamics simulation methods. The simulation results show that mixtures of TMPTO with less than 0.4wt% hBN additions have a good dispersibility.

Keywords: bio lubricant, nanoparticles, agglomeration, stability, molecular dynamic simulation