Investigation of Tribological Properties of Mahua Oil Mixed with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

In today's paradigm petroleum and petro-based chemical products are being extracted and consumed at a substantial rate, proving to be hazardous and detrimental to the earth. Bio based resources are environmentally friendly, energy efficient, economical, and proved to be an alternative to the present mineral oils. This paper documents the research on naturally available mahua seed oil for bio-lubrication, its flash point and fire point, tribological properties namely coefficient of friction and wear scar diameter have been modified by the addition of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in different concentrations by weight percentage (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0). four-ball tester was used according to ASTMD-4172 standards (60 min under 40 kg running at 1200 rpm). Probe ultrasonicator was used for particle dispersion. It was found that 0.75 wt. % loading of ZnO in mahua oil resulted in a 57.14% drop of coefficient of friction, but a slight increase in the wear scar diameter of 30.60% was observed.