Tribological properties of halogen-free ionic liquids

Abstract

The tribological properties of halogen-free ionic liquids, tricyanomethanide [${\text{C(CN)}}_3^{-}$ ] salt, tetracyanoborate [${\text{B(CN)}}_4^{-}$ ] salts, and N-alkylimidazole-trialkylborane complexes were evaluated by laboratory tribo-testing of steel–steel contact under boundary conditions. Tricyanomethanide salt is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. The other two types of liquids are composed of hydrogen, boron, carbon, and nitrogen. They are free of halogens and heavier elements that are components of common ionic liquids, such as fluorine, phosphorus, and sulphur. As expected, the halogen-free ionic liquids exhibited low corrosion properties to steel. When evaluated as neat liquid, these halogen-free ionic liquids provided less tribological properties in comparison with a reference, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide. Tributylmethylphosphonium dimethylphosphate was examined as a prototype tribo-improving additive. It improved the wear-preventing properties and friction reducing properties of tetracyanoborate salts by 10–25% and 20–30% at a concentration of 10 mM (620 ppm of phosphorus), respectively. The additive performances for tricyanomethanide salt and the imidazole-trialkylborane complexes were not uniform under these conditions. Boron oxide and iron oxides were found by surface analysis of rubbed surfaces with tetracyanoborate salts.