Lubrication Performance of -Zirconium Phosphates as an Anti-Wear Additive in Vegetable Oil-Based Anhydrous Calcium Grease

Vegetable oil has significant potential as a base oil, and substitute for mineral oil in grease formulation due to its biodegradability, low toxicity and excellent lubrication. This paper studied the development of vegetable oil-based greases with -Zr(HPO4)(2)H2O (-ZrP) as an additive, exploring base oil influence in tribological behavior. The results demonstrated that the addition of -ZrP in vegetable-based greases is beneficial to anti-wear property. -ZrP particles exhibit good performance in anti-wear, friction-reduction and load-carrying capacity, and its tribological performances are better than the normally used molybdenum disulfide and graphite additives. Owing to its superior tribological properties as a vegetable oil-based grease additive, -ZrP holds great potential for use in environmentally friendly applications in the future.