Advanced Processes and Systems in Manufacturing An International Conference 2016 28 ~ 30 August 2016- Kuala Lumpur, pp. X-X 1 Adding Nano Titanium Dioxide Anatase and Graphene to Base Oil Group II for Lubrication Optimization Waleed Alghani 1 , Mohd Sayuti Ab Karim 1 *, Samira Bagheri 2 , Nor Amirah Mohd Amran 1 1) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2) Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre, IPS Building, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. * Corresponding e-mail: [email protected] Keywords: Nano tribology; Solid lubricant additives; Energy consumption. ABSTRACT – In the present study nano particles titanium dioxide anatase TiO 2 (A) + graphene have added into the base oil group two (BO G II) for enhancing the tribology properties in term of anti friction & wear and surface morphology improvement. Oleic acid OA surfactant/precursor was blended with the formulation to stabilize the nano particles into the lube oil. One type of precursors (OA) has used with the formulation due to its properties and for cost saving aspect. Next to that oleic acid is unsaturated fatty acid to improve the nano particles dispersion into the base oil and for lubricity improvement as well. Four-ball tester has employed to examine the tribological performance for six different formulated samples. Moreover, image acquisition system was used to calculate the scar wear diameter. Furthermore, Phenom ProX ultimate imaging desktop was utilized for scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) to identify the metallographic characterization of the surface. The novelty of this work is formulating two smart nano particles TiO 2 (A) + graphene with the industrial base oil group II to improve the lubrication specifications. Experiments proved that adding 0.04wt% TiO 2 (A) + 0.02wt% graphene to the base oil G II have optimized the tribology behavior. The upgraded tribological performance of TiO 2 (A) and nano graphene with BO G II can be attributed to the superior structural integrity of the mixture and the created transfer film of the nano TiO 2 (A) + graphene during the sliding motion process. 1. INTRODUCTION Friction, the action of one surface rubbing against another, hence sufficient energy will be consumed to overcome this force. A lot of researches done to reduce the friction in order to save the energy, beginning from using water and mud till oil with additives as a lubricant [1]. Current studies are to improve the lubricant performance by adding nano particles for friction reduction, anti wear, less scar wear diameter, low friction coefficient and even enhance the carrying load capacity & extreme pressure in some applications [2], [3], [4] & [5]. Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) or Titania is a very well known and well-researched material due to the stability of its chemical structure, biocompatibility, physical, optical, and electrical properties. It exists in three mineral forms viz: anatase, rutile, and brookite. TiO 2 Anatase type has a crystalline structure that corresponds to the tetragonal system (with dipyramidal habit). Generally, TiO 2 is preferred in anatase form as a metal oxide additive because of its high specific area, non-toxic, relatively inexpensive, better dispersion of the formulation, barrier properties in the coatings, self- healing effect giving advantage in anticorrosion behavior [6]. TiO2 nanoparticles revealed superior anti friction and anti wear characteristics [7]. Nano graphene becomes the material of the century because of its superb characteristics in the term of physiochemical properties in tribology applications. Whilst graphene is two-dimensional material, presents exclusive friction and wear properties that are not usually seen in conventional materials. Moreover its well-established thermal, electrical, optical, and mechanical properties, graphene can function as a solid or colloidal liquid lubricant. Its high chemical inertness, extreme strength, and easy shear capability on its thickly packed and atomically smooth surface are the key positive attributes for its remarkable tribological behavior [1]. However, the tribological properties of these nano combination materials remain incompletely understood. In this work, the nano materials prepared and their tribological properties were examined. The synergistic lubrication effect of nano platelets graphene and nano TiO 2 Anatase was also investigated. The nano graphene + TiO 2 Anatase were found to be promising lubricant additives with better performance than pure base oil group II. 2. METHODOLOGY Six samples have been examined in Four Ball Tester TR-30 Ducom by using SKF steel balls 12.7 mm diameter. Titanium (IV) oxide, Anatase <25 nm particle size, 99.7% trace metals basis and Graphene nano platelet ~ 5nm thickness with surface area 120 m 2 /g. The base oil group II was brought from GS Caltex a South Korean oil refiner. This base oil group II according to the API classification is used for this study. Oleic acid C 18 H 34 O 2 extra pure M.Wt 282, 46 g/mol have used for this study. Formulation of each sample is shown in Table 1. After preparing the six samples, sonication for 5 samples have done for 2 hours at 80°C temperature except the pure oil sample. This ultrasonic treatment in order to assure the formation of a stable suspension of previously dispersed nanoparticles into the base oil [8]. Table 1: State the quantities of the nano particles and the