Preparation and Tribological Behavior of γ-AlOOH/Hexagonal Boron Nitride Composites as Additives in Water-Based Lubricant

Recently, water-based lubricant has received extensive attention with the enhancement of environmental awareness and economic considerations. A series of novel γ-AlOOH/h-BN composites were successfully prepared by simple hydrothermal method and employed as additive to improve tribological behaviors of water-based lubricant. The morphologies of γ-AlOOH nanoparticles were influenced in different alkaline environments, which could be attributed to the formation of Al-triethylamine (Al-TEA). Furthermore, when the quantity of BN is same, the granular γ-AlOOH nanoparticles under TEA condition owing to a smaller size presented the better anti-friction property. The dispersibility and stability of BN in water were improved via loading AlOOH nanoparticles onto BN. Compared with pure BN, the nanocomposites can be stable in water for 24 h. The tribological behaviors were studied by four-ball tribological machine, the results showed that obtained samples exhibited outstanding anti-friction and anti-wear properties both in pure water and in water-glycol (mass ratio is 55%:45%) lubricant.