@article{b8549a00ae844e779b5d5a9fceba7f05,
title = "Synthetic Lubricants Derived from Plastic Waste and their Tribological Performance",
abstract = "The energy efficiency, mechanical durability, and environmental compatibility of all moving machine components rely heavily on advanced lubricants for smooth and safe operation. Herein an alternative family of high-quality liquid (HQL) lubricants was derived by the catalytic conversion of pre- and post-consumer polyolefin waste. The plastic-derived lubricants performed comparably to synthetic base oils such as polyalphaolefins (PAOs), both with a wear scar volume (WSV) of 7.5×10−5 mm−3. HQLs also performed superior to petroleum-based lubricants such as Group III mineral oil with a WSV of 1.7×10−4 mm−3, showcasing a 44 % reduction in wear. Furthermore, a synergistic reduction in friction and wear was observed when combining the upcycled plastic lubricant with synthetic oils. Life cycle and techno-economic analyses also showed this process to be energetically efficient and economically feasible. This novel technology offers a cost-effective opportunity to reduce the harmful environmental impact of plastic waste on our planet and to save energy through reduction of friction and wear-related degradations in transportation applications akin to synthetic oils.",
keywords = "depolymerization, lubricants, plastics, polyolefins, upcycling",
author = "Hackler, {Ryan A.} and Kimaya Vyavhare and Kennedy, {Robert M.} and Gokhan Celik and Uddhav Kanbur and Griffin, {Philip J.} and Sadow, {Aaron D.} and Guiyan Zang and Amgad Elgowainy and Pingping Sun and Poeppelmeier, {Kenneth R.} and Ali Erdemir and Massimiliano Delferro",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported as part of the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. Argonne National Laboratory is operated by UChicago Argonne LLC under Contract DE-AC-02-06CH11357 for the United States Department of Energy and Ames Laboratory under Contract DE-AC-02-07CH11358 is operated by Iowa State University for the United States Department of Energy. Preliminary TEA and LCA analysis are supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), REUSE project at Argonne National Laboratory under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. Use of the TEM at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. XANES experiments were conducted at the Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada that is supported by NSERC, NRC, CIHR, and the University of Saskatchewan. Funding Information: This work was supported as part of the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. Argonne National Laboratory is operated by UChicago Argonne LLC under Contract DE‐AC‐02‐06CH11357 for the United States Department of Energy and Ames Laboratory under Contract DE‐AC‐02‐07CH11358 is operated by Iowa State University for the United States Department of Energy. Preliminary TEA and LCA analysis are supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA‐E), REUSE project at Argonne National Laboratory under contract DE‐AC02‐06CH11357. Use of the TEM at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE‐AC02‐06CH11357. XANES experiments were conducted at the Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada that is supported by NSERC, NRC, CIHR, and the University of Saskatchewan. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH",
year = "2021",
month = oct,
day = "5",
doi = "10.1002/cssc.202100912",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "14",
pages = "4181--4189",
journal = "ChemSusChem",
issn = "1864-5631",
publisher = "Wiley-VCH Verlag",
number = "19",
}