THERMAL SEPARATION OF HEXAGONAL BORON NITRIDE TO BORON NITRIDE NANOSHEETS AND IMPACT ON FRICTION CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL ENGINE OILS

Boron nitride nanosheets are the result of the exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride, which contains mechanical and electronic properties that can be transferred into additives in lubricants. The resulting mechanical and electronic properties act as a protective layer that can minimize the level of friction, thereby improving the performance and efficiency of the machine. The quality of boron nitride nanosheets depends on the type of exfoliation and the size of the boron nitride. The tribology of lubricants from diesel engines and the hexagonal exfoliation of boron nitrides into boron nitride nanosheets in the study of variations in the concentration of potassium hydroxide solvent has not been much. The hexagonal exfoliation process of boron nitride is performed at a concentration variation of 0.5–1.5 M and the addition of 0 wt% and 0.5 wt% boron nitride nanosheets to the lubricant as a tribological. The characterization of the boron nitride nanosheets observed is the morphology, purity, and particle size. By contrast, the application of nanolubricants to diesel engines was observed in terms of the performance, bearing surface, and metal content of the lubricant. The data characteristics of boron nitride nanosheets are best at a concentration of 1 M with a morphological lateral dimension of 100–300 nm, a peak shift of XRD 26.7494° to 26.7485°, and a distributed average size of 322.7 nm. However, the application of nano lubricants on diesel engines is best at 0.5 wt%, with engine power performance 6.36% lower than 0 wt% and an SFOC value of 313.08 gr/kWh. But, the scratch size on bearing surfaces is larger. The content of metals indicating depletion, such as Fe and Cr, is below the maximum limit of the ASTM D585-18 standard of 127 ppm (69%) and 13 ppm (81%).