Film-forming properties of estolides

Estolides are biobased materials obtained from the synthesis of ingredients derived from agricultural products. They are oligoesters obtained by the reaction of fatty acids and/or methyl esters with a double bond. By varying the chemistries of the starting materials and the reaction conditions, estolides of varying chemical structures (e.g., branching), and physical properties (e.g., mol wt, viscosity, pour point, cloud point) are obtained. Estolides have been found to have suitable properties for some lubrication applications. In this work, the effect of estolide physical/chemical variability on film thickness and pressure-viscosity coefficient (pvc) were examined. The results showed that estolides have lower pvc than the non-polar hydrocarbon PAO, but much higher than seed oils (e.g., soybean, jojoba, canola), which are used as feedstock in estolide synthesis. The film thickness and pvc properties of estolides were also found to be dependent on the structure (e.g., home- versus co-oligomer) and purity of the estolide oils.