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Transportation—Salting the gears

  • ORNL researchers used a low-viscosity base oil mixed with a small amount of phosphonium-phosphate ionic oil to test the lubricant’s performance on steel. Credit: Jun Qu/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

  • They found the ionic oil mix yielded less surface damage, shown on here, compared to lubrication with commercial gear oil. Credit: Jun Qu/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

  • ORNL researchers used a low-viscosity base oil mixed with a small amount of phosphonium-phosphate ionic oil to test the lubricant’s performance on steel. Credit: Jun Qu/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

  • They found the ionic oil mix yielded less surface damage, shown on here, compared to lubrication with commercial gear oil. Credit: Jun Qu/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory proved that a certain class of ionic liquids, when mixed with commercially available oils, can make gears run more efficiently with less noise and better durability. ORNL’s team tested three different oil-soluble ionic liquids on steel under various temperatures, loads and speeds. They found that adding a small percentage of a phosphonium-phosphate ionic liquid into a gear oil can effectively reduce friction, wear loss, cracking, surface damage and associated vibration noises. “The current trend in lubrication is chasing better fuel economy by using less viscous lubricants,” ORNL’s Jun Qu said. “This ionic liquid resulted in oils that perform well with less viscosity, generating a thicker, smoother and more uniform film for superior surface protection.” Results were published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.