Epoxidized Oleic Acid‐Based Polymethacrylates as Viscosity Index Improvers

Abstract

This study reports two routes for the synthesis of epoxidized oleic acid (OLA)‐based polymethacrylates. The first one consisted of the synthesis followed by epoxidation of the OLA‐based methacrylate, 2‐(methacryloyloxy)ethyl oleate (MAEO), prior to its radical polymerization. In the second pathway, MAEO was first homopolymerized to afford poly(2‐(methacryloyloxy)ethyl oleate) (PMAEO) and, then, the internal double bonds of the oleate were epoxidized at different yields ranging from 20% to 100%. All polymeric structures were confirmed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and characterized through size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. The resulting polymers were then blended at 5 wt.% in a mineral paraffinic oil (MPO) and in a biobased organic triacylglycerol oil (OTO) to be evaluated as viscosity index improvers (VII). The partially epoxidized polymers up to 40% were soluble in MPO. According to a rheological study, the oil‐soluble epoxidized polymers resulting from the epoxidation of PMAEO exhibited a much higher influence on oil viscosities at high temperatures than at low temperatures compared to the low‐epoxidized PMAEO molecular weight obtained by the first strategy. Additionally, the viscosity indices of both lubricating oils were significantly improved with the addition of the epoxidized OLA‐based polymers resulting from the epoxidation of PMAEO, which confirmed their efficiency as VII.

Development of Fully Bio‐Based Lubricants from Agro‐Industrial Residues under Environmentally Friendly Processes

“…These results indicate that hydroxyls, as the double bonds, are functional groups more susceptible to suffer oxidative processes, contributing to the formation of products with lower stability during the process of thermal degradation. [ 33,34 ]…”

Functionalized polyethylene on property enhancement of lubricating oil and their performance evaluation study

“…The influence of polymeric additives on the viscosity of lubricating oil is more important at high temperature than at low temperature, which is a general characteristic of polymeric VI improver additives 50 . The results in Table 4 established that all poly(MMA‐ co ‐ethylene) analogues can improve the VI of the base oil.…”

“…From the figure, it is clear that poly(MMA‐ co ‐ethylene) copolymers can effectively improve the viscosity of lubricating oil at 40, 60 and 80°C, but at 100°C the difference in viscosity is not significant. This decrease of viscosity with increasing temperature is due to the expansion of polymer coil with gradual increase of polymer solubility in the lubricating oil 50 . Increase in MW of the additive improves the viscosity of lubricating oil more effectively, 3,49 that is, with increased MW, the polymeric chain became longer and due to more tangled structure it hinders the flow.…”

Toward Green Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: Current Status and Future Challenges

“…The application of ATRP to FA-based monomers was recently summarized. [190] Long-alkyl-chain additives (as quaternary ammonium salts, e.g., Aliquat 336) or ligand modifications were generally required in ATRP of FA-based monomers to enhance monomer/polymer solubilities. These studies mainly focused on the more common stearyl and lauryl (meth)acrylates, although other methacrylates were explored with different lengths of the side chains, including C 10 , C 14, and C 16 .…”