Lubrication Mechanism of Ionic Liquids

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 1109

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanics, Energy and Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy, Studentu str. 15, LT-53362 Akademija, Kaunas distr., Lithuania
Interests: tribology; friction; wear; lubricants; additives; ionic liquids; coatings
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Guest Editor
Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Formosa University, Yunlin 63201, Taiwan
Interests: tribology in industrial application; lubrication failure diagnosis and monitoring; precision machine system analysis; micro-contact mechanics; green lubricant
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka 575025, India
Interests: green lubricants; synthesis and testing of eco-friendly cutting fluids/ionic fluids; surface engineering and additive manufacturing; sustainable manufacturing; tribology–surface interaction and modification studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It has been over two decades since Ye et al. introduced ionic liquids as lubricants in 2001. Due to their exceptional thermal stability, low volatility, and customisable chemical structures, which permit a rich variety of properties, ionic liquids are especially valuable as lubricants. The topic has become extremely popular among tribologists and has been widely studied in various ways.

This Special Issue will address experimental and theoretical insights, emphasizing how ionic liquids interact at interfaces, create boundary films, and affect friction and wear. Contributions will provide insights into nanotribology, surface chemistry, triboelectrochemistry, and rheology, underscoring the significance of ionic liquids in enhancing energy efficiency and reliability of mechanisms. The environmentally friendly ionic liquids will not be overlooked, and studies on their synthesis and tribological performance are encouraged.

We also invite submissions regarding recent advancements in the tribological behaviour of ionic liquids subjected to applied electric potential. Both micro- and macro-scale behaviours are welcome.

This Special Issue combines interdisciplinary research to enhance the understanding of ionic liquid-based lubrication and promote innovation in the creation of next-generation lubricants.

Dr. Raimondas Kreivaitis
Prof. Dr. Jeng-Haur Horng
Dr. P S Suvin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Lubricants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ionic liquids
  • additives
  • lubrication
  • friction
  • wear
  • adsorption
  • chemisorption
  • tribotronics
  • molecular layer
  • triboelectrochemistry

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 5148 KB  
Article
Improving Tribological Properties of Oil-in-Water Lubricating Fluid Using Hybrid Protic Ionic Liquid and Nanoparticle Additives
by Raimondas Kreivaitis, Jolanta Treinytė, Artūras Kupčinskas, Milda Gumbytė and Ieva Gaidė
Lubricants 2026, 14(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants14010003 - 22 Dec 2025
Viewed by 706
Abstract
Water is attractive as a base fluid due to its availability and environmental friendliness. To enhance its lubricity, environmentally friendly additives must be applied. This study combined protic ionic liquid and several nanoparticles to form hybrid additives for an oil-in-water lubricant. The performance [...] Read more.
Water is attractive as a base fluid due to its availability and environmental friendliness. To enhance its lubricity, environmentally friendly additives must be applied. This study combined protic ionic liquid and several nanoparticles to form hybrid additives for an oil-in-water lubricant. The performance of these additives was evaluated using wettability, tribo-testing, and worn-surface analysis. The tribo-test employed a ball-on-plate reciprocating tribometer that used bearing steel/bearing steel and WC/bearing steel friction pairs. The results were compared with those obtained using two commercial additives. It was found that the investigated additives are promising candidates for water-based lubricants, as they exhibit comparable wettability. Moreover, they outperform the reference samples in terms of lubricity. According to the results, the suggested lubrication mechanism includes enhanced wettability, composite tribo-film formation, surface polishing, and mending. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lubrication Mechanism of Ionic Liquids)
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