A study on fullerene-acrylamide copolymer nanoball-a new type of water-based lubrication additive

A novel fullerene-acrylamide copolymer was synthesized via radical polymerization. It is soluble in polar solvents such as water, acetone, tetrahydrofuran. The product was characterized by FTIR, UV-vis and GPC. TEM analysis shows that the average particle diameter is about 46 nm. Four-ball tests shows that the addition of a certain concentration of the fullerene copolymer to base stock (2 wt.% triethanolamine aqueous solution) can effectively raise the load-carrying capacity (PB value), and raise the anti-wear ability. SEM analysis shows that the additive results in reducing diameter of wear scar and decreasing wear.