Preparation and Tribological Study of Biodegradable Lubrication Films on Si Substrate

Shih-Chen Shi; Teng-Feng Huang; Jhen-Yu Wu

doi:10.3390/ma8041738

Preparation and Tribological Study of Biodegradable Lubrication Films on Si Substrate

Materials (Basel). 2015 Apr 14;8(4):1738-1751. doi: 10.3390/ma8041738.

Authors

Shih-Chen Shi¹, Teng-Feng Huang², Jhen-Yu Wu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), No.1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan. scshi@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), No.1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan. N16031760@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), No.1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan. N16031794@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

Abstract

A novel method for preparing eco-biodegradable lubricant based on hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) via hydration process is demonstrated. The smooth and homogeneous HPMC coating has a uniform thickness (~35 μm). It has been demonstrated that the preparation parameters play a critical role in controlling the lubricating behavior of the coating; in addition, excess HPMC and water concentration suppress the tribology properties. Nevertheless, a remarkable friction-reduction and anti-wear performance has been obtained. Impressively, the preparation parameter of 5% HPMC + 30 mL water significantly improves lubricant performance and durability. A simple approach for the water-degradability evaluation of HPMC is proposed.

Keywords: HPMC; ball-on-disk; friction coefficient; green; hydroxypropyl methylcellulose; lubrication; tribology; water-degradable; wear.