The present work investigates the tribological properties of solid particles as lubricant additives in lubricants. Two types of solid particles, Ceria nanoparticles (CeO2) and Zinc borate ultrafine powders (ZB UFPs), were used as the lubricant additives in this study. The friction and wear behaviours of these lubricant additives in different base lubricants were identified. With an appropriate application of these solid lubricant additives, the friction reduction and wear resistance properties of the lubricant have been successfully improved. Without assistance of surfactant or surface modification, the two types of solid particles behave very differently. Evident performance was observed that pure ZB UFPs were capable of considerably reducing the friction coefficient of sunflower oil and liquid paraffin when they were used as a lubricant additive without further treatment. On the contrary, CeO2 nanoparticles did not show noticeable contribution to friction reduction when they were used as the only additive in water. Only when surfactant Sorbitan monostearate was employed to enhance the dispersibility of CeO2 nanoparticles in water, the application of this additive was capable of reducing friction coefficient of the water based lubricant effectively. Surface modification of the solid particles was carried out to improve the dispersibility of these particles in base lubricants. Oleic acid (OA) and Hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMOS) were selected as the modification agents. Modified CeO2 nanoparticles and ZB UFPs revealed outstanding wear resistance property. An improvement of up to 15 times was identified although this improvement on wear resistance, in this case, was often companied by a rise in friction coefficient. Tribo-films generated by tribo-chemical reaction were observed on most of the worn surfaces and the formation of this tribo-film appeared to have played an important role in the friction and wear behaviours of a system. A tenacious tribo-film with good surface coverage was only generated on the worn surface when HDTMOS modified solid particles were used as lubricant additives. The mechanical properties and elemental composition of the tribo-film were studied with nano-indentation and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Finally, based on the experimental evidence, different functionalities of CeO2 nanoparticles and ZB UFPs as solid lubricant additives were recognized.

The objectives of this study are to synthesize sub-micron sized zinc borate and to use them with other flame retardant additives in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) based composites. The study can be divided into two parts. In the first part, it was aimed to synthesize sub-micron sized zinc borate (2ZnO.3B2O3.3.5H2O) with the reaction of zinc oxide and boric acid. For this purpose, low molecular weight additives or surfactants were used in the syntheses to prevent the agglomeration and to decrease particle size. Effect of type of surfactant and its concentration / effect of using nano-sized zinc oxide as reactant on the synthesis, properties and morphology of 2ZnO.3B2O3.3.5H2O were investigated. Synthesized zinc borates were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The results were compared with a commercial zinc borate, Firebrake (FB). Characterization results showed that at least in one dimension sub-micron size was obtained and synthesized zinc borates did not lose their hydration water until the process temperature of the composites. In the second part of the study, PET based composites, which mainly included synthesized sub-micron sized zinc borates were prepared by using a co-rotating twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. Synergist materials such as boron phosphate (BP) and triphenyl phosphate (TPP) were also used in the composite preparation. The composites were characterized in terms of flammability and mechanical properties. Flammability of composites was determined by using a Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) test. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elastic modulus, elongation at break and impact strength were also studied. According to LOI and impact tests, the composites containing 3 wt. % BP and 2 wt. % zinc borate which was modified with poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride), 2PSMA05/3BP and 2PSMA1/3BP have higher LOI and impact values when compared to neat PET.

Zinc borate is a flame retardant additive used in polymers, wood applications and textile products. There are different types of zinc borate having different chemical composition and structure. In this study, the production of zinc borate that had the molecular formula of 2ZnO.3B2O3.3,5H2O was studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of reaction parameters on the properties of zinc borate that had been synthesized by the reaction of boric acid and zinc oxide at the existence of the seed crystals and to determine the optimum experimental conditions for zinc borate production reaction. Reaction kinetics was also investigated to find a suitable kinetics model. The effect of boric acid to zinc oxide ratio -H3BO3:ZnO ratio- (3:1, 3.5:1, 5:1 and 7:1), the particle size of zinc oxide (10&micro / m and 25&micro / m), stirring rate (275 rpm, 400 rpm, 800 rpm and 1600 rpm), temperature (75&deg / , 85&deg / and 95&deg / ) and size of seed crystals (10&micro / m and smaller size) on reaction rate, reaction completion time, composition and particle size distribution of zinc borate were investigated. Experiments were performed in a continuously stirring, temperature controlled batch reactor with a volume of 1.5L. During the experiments samples were taken to be analyzed in regular time intervals. The analyses of the samples gave the concentration change of zinc oxide and boron oxide in the solid as well as the conversion of zinc oxide to zinc borate with respect to time and the rate of reaction was calculated. The products were also analyzed for particle size distribution. The experimental results showed that the reaction rate increased with the increasing H3BO3:ZnO ratio, particle size of zinc oxide, stirring rate and temperature. The reaction completion time was also decreased by increasing H3BO3:ZnO ratio, stirring rate and temperature. The particle size of final product, zinc borate, decreased with increasing stirring rate and size of zinc borate used as seed and increased with increasing particle size of zinc oxide used as reactant. The average particle sizes of the final product zinc borates synthesized at the end of the experiments were ranged between 4.3 &micro / m and 16.6 &micro / m. The zinc borate production reaction was mainly fitted the unreacted core model for the case of diffusion through product layer controls.

Open-framework inorganic materials constitute an important area of study in materials chemistry, because of their potential applications in areas such as sorption and catalysis. After the discovery of nanoporous aluminium phosphates (AlPOs) by Flanigen et al in 1982, there has been a tremendous growth in the area of porous solids that are based on phosphates. Apart from phosphates, phosphites, arsenates, sulfates, sulfites, selenates, selenites etc. have also been investigated. In addition to the different anions, the framework compounds now encompass almost all the elements of the periodic table. The compounds exhibit wide variety and structural diversity. New building units, such as thiosulfate and borate have also been explored as a network builder in the formation of framework structures. In this thesis, the results of the investigations on open-framework metal thiosulfates, metal borates and metal sulfates are presented. The studies are aimed not only at the synthesis of the new compounds based on the new anions, but also their possible applications. In Chapter 1 of the thesis an overview of inorganic open-framework materials with different anions is presented. In Chapter 2 (Part A), the synthesis, structure and transformation of inorganic-organic hybrid open-framework cadmium thiosulfate are presented. The lack of stability of the thiosulfate ion in solution prompted the exploration of new approaches such as low temperature solvothermal methods, use of rigid linkers etc. The transformations of lower to higher dimensional structures have been accomplished. The possible mechanisms for such transformations were investigated. In Part B, the physical and chemical properties of the hybrid cadmium thiosulfate frameworks are presented. The studies indicate that the anionic dyes selectively adsorb on the compounds in the water medium and also desorb reasonably in alcoholic medium. The cadmium thiosulfate compounds appear to be reasonable photocalysts for the photodecomposition of the cationic dyes under UV irradiation as well as under sunlight with good recyclability. The compounds also exhibit heterogeneous catalytic behavior (Lewis acidity) for the cyanosilylation of the imines. In Chapter 3, a new family of organically templated open-framework borate materials is presented. The zinc and aluminoborate structures, prepared in the present study, are rationalized using the HSAB theory. The [B4O9H2] units polymerize differently to form different zinc borate structures. The amine molecules act as a ligand by binding with the metal. The nature of the amine appears to control the dimensionality of the final zinc borate structures. The zinc borate compounds exhibit absorption of UV-light (λ = 365 nm) suggesting that the zinc borate compounds could be exploited for UV-blocking applications. Organically templated aluminoborates have connectivities between the Al3+ ions and the [B5O10] cyclic pentaborate units. The aluminoborate structures exhibit graphite layer and three-dimensional diamond structure. Detailed studies and comparison of the various amine templated open-framework aluminoborate structures reveals subtle relationships between the organic amines (shape and length of the amines) and the final framework structures. In Chapter 3, the synthesis, structure and catalytic studies of a variety of cadmium sulfate phases have been carried out. Polyazaheterocyclic ligands were employed to study their possible role in the formation of such structures. All the compounds have structures built up by the connectivity involving the cadmium octahedra and the sulfate tetrahedra in which the heterocyclic organic molecules act as the ligand. The connectivity between the Cd2+ and (SO4)2− ions form one-, two-and three-dimensionally extended cadmium sulfate phases, though the starting source is cadmium sulfate (CdSO4.8/3H2O) in all the cases. The connectivity between Cd2+ ion and the heterocyclic ligand also gives rise to one-and two-dimensional structures. The interconnectivity between the two units gives rise to the final observed structure. As part of the study, a variety of properties i.e. adsorption-desorption, photocatalytic degradation and cyanosilylation reaction, exhibited by the cadmium sulfate compounds have been investigated and the properties are comparable to the cadmium thiosulfate phases. AlPOs are well known for their many important properties. The wide varieties in their structures and heterogeneous catalytic properties have been extensively investigated. The photocatalytic behaviors, on the contrary, have not been investigated in detail. The photocatalytic properties of the metal-doped AlPOs, for the photodegrdation of organic dyes have been investigated in the Chapter 5. The metal ions (Mg2+, Zn2+ and Co2+) have been substituted in place of Al3+ and Ti4+ in place of both the Al3+ and P5+ in a variety in AlPO structures and the synthesized phases are characterized by a variety of techniques. Photodecomposition studies of organic dye molecules under UV-light were carried out in aqueous medium. The studies suggest that the photocatalytic activity is reasonable and appears to depend on the dopant concentration. Ti-substituted phase exhibits the maximum catalytic activity.