Polyesters Based on Linoleic Acid for Biolubricant Basestocks: Low-Temperature, Tribological and Rheological Properties

Bashar Mudhaffar Abdullah; Saiful Irwan Zubairi; Hasniza Zaman Huri; Nany Hairunisa; Emad Yousif; Roma Choudhury Basu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151603

Polyesters Based on Linoleic Acid for Biolubricant Basestocks: Low-Temperature, Tribological and Rheological Properties

PLoS One. 2016 Mar 23;11(3):e0151603. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151603. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Bashar Mudhaffar Abdullah¹, Saiful Irwan Zubairi², Hasniza Zaman Huri^{1

3}, Nany Hairunisa¹, Emad Yousif⁴, Roma Choudhury Basu¹

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Investigation Centre, University Malaya Medical Centre, 13th Floor Main Tower, Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
² School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq.

Abstract

Presently, plant oils which contain high percentage of linoleic acid 1 are perceived to be a viable alternative to mineral oil for biolubricant applications due to their biodegradability and technical properties. In order to get biodegradable lubricant, triester derivatives compounds (1-5) were synthesized and characterized. The processes involved were monoepoxidation of linoleic acid 2, oxirane ring opening 3, esterification 4 and acylation 5. The structures of the products were confirmed by FTIR, 1H and 13C-NMR and LC-MS. The results that showed lowest temperature properties were obtained for triester 5, with a pour point value (PP) of -73°C, highest onset temperature (260°C) and lowest volatility at 0.30%. Viscosity index (VI) increased for the ester's synthetic compounds (2, 3, 4, 5), while the PP decreased. This behavior is the result of the increase of the chain length of the branching agents. Triester based linoleic acid has improved properties such as low-temperature and tribological properties. These results will make it feasible for plant oil to be used for biolubricants, fuels in chain saws, transmission oil and brake fluid.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chromatography, Liquid
Cold Temperature*
Linoleic Acid / chemistry*
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Mass Spectrometry
Polyesters / chemistry*
Rheology*
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Substances

Polyesters
Linoleic Acid

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (TRGS/1/2014/USM/01/3/4, FRGS/2/2013/TK04/UKM/03/1, GGPM-2013-078 and LAUREATE-2013-002) and University of Malaya (RP024A-14HTM). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.