Lubricating fluids with highly improved tribological performance very often entail the use of environmentally disrespectful formulations. Based on organoclay dispersions in castor oil, the present research explores the development of simple and sustainable lubricants that enable an “active control” of the tribological behavior under the action of electric fields. Storage stable formulations with high electro-rheological (ER) performance were obtained with 2 wt% organo-modified montmorillonites (OMt) dispersions in castor oil. Their strong ER potential was assessed through the dynamic yield stress values obtained from steady flow curves at 25 °C under electric fields up to 4 kV/mm. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements demonstrated a local maximum (or shoulder) in the dielectric loss, ε´´, in the frequency range 5–10 kHz which is related to interfacial polarization. It was found that the OMt clays had a much greater ER potential than other types of clay mineral (e.g. halloysite nanotubes) that did not exhibit any polarization relaxation in ε´´. Moreover, in general, a fairly good correlation of the yield stress values with the drop in the permittivity, Δε´ = ε₀´ – ε_∞´, was found for the OMt clays. Preliminary electro-tribological tests were carried out using a ball-on-three plates setup, with an optimal formulation prototype consisting of 2 wt% Cloisite 15A dispersion in castor oil. The results demonstrated a reduction of up to 9% of the friction coefficient in the mixed lubrication regime. This outcome, based on organo-modified layered nanosilicates dispersions in castor oil, revealed the feasibility of producing a “new generation” of lubricants which, with no need for hazardous chemicals, may assist in the development of a novel concept of lubrication through electric potentials.

具有高度改善的摩擦学性能的润滑液经常需要使用对环境不利的配方。基于蓖麻油中有机粘土的分散体，本研究探索了简单，可持续的润滑剂的开发，该润滑剂能够在电场作用下“主动控制”摩擦行为。通过在蓖麻油中使用2 wt％的有机改性蒙脱土（OMt）分散体，可以获得具有高电流变（ER）性能的储存稳定的制剂。通过在高达4 kV / mm的电场下从25°C下的稳定流动曲线获得的动态屈服应力值，评估了它们的强大ER潜力。宽带介电谱测量表明介电损耗ε为局部最大值（或肩峰）´´，在5-10 kHz的频率范围内，与界面极化有关。结果发现，在OMT粘土具有比其他类型的粘土矿物的更大的ER潜力（如高岭土纳米管）未在表现出任何极化弛豫ε ''。此外，在一般情况下，屈服应力值的和随介电常数的下降相当良好的相关性，Δ ε '=  ε ₀ ' - ε _∞”，是针对OMt粘土发现的。初步的电摩擦学测试是使用三球板上的装置进行的，最佳配方原型由2％的Cloisite 15A蓖麻油分散体组成。结果表明，在混合润滑方式下，摩擦系数最多降低了9％。该结果基于蓖麻油中有机改性的层状纳米硅酸盐分散体，表明了生产“新一代”润滑剂的可行性，这种润滑剂无需有害化学物质，可以帮助开发通过电势进行润滑的新概念。