Revealing the Dependence of Lubricant Viscosity on Molecular Structure by Measuring the Temperature Dependence of Dielectric Relaxation and Viscosity

Abstract

Reducing the viscosity of the lubricant is an effective way to improve the energy efficiency of automobiles. However, designing a lubricant with the desired properties requires elucidating the relationship between viscosity and molecular structure. In this study, we measured the temperature dependence of the dielectric relaxation of model lubricants with different molecular structures. Dielectric relaxation measurements were used to evaluate the influence of ambient viscosity on the motility of single molecules. In addition, we measured the temperature dependence of the lubricant viscosity using a rotational viscometer. By comparing the flow viscosity and dielectric relaxation measurement results, we showed that the activation volume and energy of the luburicant, which determine viscosity, can be resolved. As a result, we succeeded in quantitatively evaluating the contribution of molecular structure to changes in the activation energy, and elucidated the effect of the density of polar groups per molecule on changes in the activation volume.