Influence of different surfactants on the stability and varying concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles on the rheological properties of canola oil-based nanolubricants

Abstract

The present study addresses the dispersion stability and rheological analysis of canola oil-based nanolubricants. The stability of canola oil-based nanolubricant was examined under different surfactants and different particle to surfactant mass ratios for the period of 30 days. The experimental results demonstrated that nanolubricants with surfactant significantly improve the dispersion stability as compared to non-surfactant lubricant. However, on the basis of visual inspection and absorbance value, the highest stability was recorded for the sample containing TiO2 to Triton X-100 mass ratio of 1:3. In addition, the influence of different concentrations of nanoparticles on the rheological behaviour of canola oil-based nanolubricants was also assessed. The outcomes showed that the nanolubricants exhibited Newtonian behaviour. The viscosity of nanolubricants increased with increase of nanoparticles concentration and decreased with temperature. Experimental values were compared with available viscosity models and a new correlation model was proposed with the margin of deviation of 1.38%.