Synergistic lubrication effect of antioxidant and low content ZDDP on PFPE grease

Purpose The purpose of this study is to reduce the use of Zinc dialkyl dithiophosphates (ZDDP) and improve the frictional properties and thermal oxidation stability of Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) grease by adding antioxidant additives. The addition of antioxidants can reduce the consumption of ZDDP as an antioxidant, thus improving the anti-wear efficiency of ZDDP and reducing the excess phosphorus element in the grease. Design/methodology/approach In this study, an antioxidant with good comprehensive performance was selected from several antioxidants by tribological tests and high-temperature tests. Then, the effect of its combination additive with ZDDP on PFPE grease was investigated. The anti-wear property, anti-friction property, thermal oxidation stability and extreme pressure property of greases containing different proportions of ZDDP and antioxidant were tested by four-ball tester and synchronous thermal analyzer (STA). The effects of additives on properties of grease were analyzed by SEM, EDS, LSCM, XPS and FT-IR. Findings The research shows that 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) can be used as an antioxidant in combined additives to reduce the antioxidant reactions of ZDDP, thus improving the anti-wear efficiency of ZDDP and further enhancing the anti-wear performance of the grease. Moreover, BHT and ZDDP have a synergistic effect on the high temperature performance of the PFPE grease due to their different antioxidant mechanisms. Social implications In this paper, the problems related to PFPE grease are studied, which has a certain guiding effect on the industrial application of fluorine grease and the related formulation design. Originality/value In this paper, the properties of PFPE grease under different lubricating condition were studied. The synergistic lubrication effect of antioxidant and ZDDP are discussed. It provides experimental and theoretical support for reducing the content of ZDDP and improving the performance of additives.