The tribology performance of silica nanoparticles as lubricant additives in a reciprocating four-stroke engine motorcycle

Lubricants like any types of greases and oils usually used to reduce the effect of friction, but also it has multi functions of increase of the overall performance and application life. To clarify how lubricants decrease friction and reduce friction related issues, this study evaluates the performance of the specific fuel consumption, and the exhaust emissions (such as HC, CO and PM) of motorcycle with nanosilica (nano-SiO₂) added to the original lubricant. Lubricants with 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 wt.% of nano-SiO₂ were evaluated after testing their basic properties and conducting tribology tests; lubricant with 3.5 wt.% of nano-SiO₂ was found to be the best candidate for the four-stroke engine motorcycle experiments. The results of the tribology experiment with nano-SiO₂ lubricant showed that the abrasion loss corresponding to the 3.5-wt.% nano-SiO₂ lubricant decreased by an average of 42.43%. Overall, the 3.5-wt.% nano-SiO₂ lubricant improved the effect of lubrication. The primary focus of the current study is on the development of nano-SiO₂ lubricant technology for application in industry environments.