Tris(dialkylamino)cyclopropenium dialkylphosphate ionic liquids as lubricants

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Jan 18;25(3):2401-2410. doi: 10.1039/d2cp05109e.

Abstract

Six new tris(dialkylamino)cyclopropenium dialkylphosphate ionic liquids (ILs), [C3(NR2)3]BEHP (NR2 = NEt2, NBuMe, NPr2, NBu2, NHex2, NDec2; BEHP = bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate), were prepared and characterised as potential lubricants. Thermophysical and thermochemical properties of these ILs were investigated, namely: viscosity, density, conductivity, miscibility, thermal stability and phase transitions. Miscibility studies indicated that [C3(NEt2)3]BEHP would not be suitable due to its water solubility and hexane immiscibility. [C3(NDec2)3]BEHP was not investigated as a lubricant due to its low purity (the chloride salt of this cation is also hexane miscible). Of the other four, [C3(NHex2)3]BEHP was found to exhibit significantly less wear for pin-on-disk test conditions than the standard phosphonium [P6,6,6,14]BEHP IL. The amount of wear was found to generally decrease with increasing molecular weight.