Lubricating greases were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance/magnetic resonance imaging (NMR/MRI) to get insight into their structure and into their response to mechanical forces, which is related to bleeding and aging. The investigated greases are based on metallic soaps of fatty acids and oils, whereby LiOH is often used. These organic soaps act as thickeners and provide a network in which oils and their additives are embedded. Lubricating greases can thus be considered as a class of substances similar to oleogels or even hydrogels. Questions arise about translational mobility of guest molecules, mainly base oil, in these networks. Molecular structuring and interactions within the network of thickeners are of interest as they are related to macroscopic stability. Apart from NMR spectroscopy (1 H-, 7 Li- and 31 P-NMR), spectrally resolved relaxation and diffusion measurements are used for characterization. In addition, magic angle spinning (MAS)-NMR was combined with 1 H-MRI to investigate the impact of mechanical stress and swelling of lubricating greases.
Keywords: MRI; NMR spectroscopy; hindered diffusion; inverse Abel transform; lubricating greases; relaxation.
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