Au/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Synthesized in Supercritical CO₂ Fluid as Energy Efficient Lubricant Additive

Au nanoparticles are successfully decorated onto graphene oxide (GO) sheets with the aid of supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO₂) fluid. The synthesized nanocomposite (Sc-Au/GO) was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The characterization results show that the Au nanoparticles are featured with face-centered cubic crystal structure and disperse well on the GO nanosheet surfaces with average diameters of 4-10 nm. The tribological behaviors of Sc-Au/GO as lubricating additive in PAO6 oil were investigated using a ball-on-disc friction tester, and a control experiment by respectively adding GO, nano-Au particles, and Au/GO produced in the absence of ScCO₂ was performed as well. It is found that Sc-Au/GO exhibits the best lubricating performances among all the samples tested. When 0.10 wt % Sc-Au/GO is dispersed into PAO6 oil, the friction coefficient and wear rate are respectively reduced by 33.6% and 72.8% as compared to that of the pure PAO6 oil, indicating that Sc-Au/GO is an energy efficient lubricant additive. A possible lubricating mechanism of Sc-Au/GO additive in PAO6 oil has been tentatively proposed on the basis of the analyzed results of the worn surface examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).