Castor Oil Based Multifunctional Greener Additives for Lubricating Oil

Objective: The article investigates the performance of homopolymer of castor oil and its four copolymers with methyl methacrylate (MMA), dodecyl acrylate (DDA), 1- decene (1-D) and styrene (ST) as biodegradable multifunctional additive in the formulation of eco-friendly lubricant. Method: Homopolymer of castor oil (CO) and its copolymers with 10% (w/w) of each of the comonomers were synthesized using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The polymers were characterized by spectral techniques (FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy). The molecular weight of all the prepared polymers was determined by Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). Result: The thermal stability of the polymers was determined by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Performance evaluation of all the prepared polymers in two different of mineral base oils as viscosity index improver (VII), pour point depressant (PPD) and antiwear was carried out according to standard ASTM methods. Biodegradability of all the samples was tested through soil burial test (SBT) method.