Anti-friction and Wear Resistance Performance of Palm Olein Grease with Molybdenum Disulfide Additive

Abstract

In this study, palm olein-based grease with a micro-molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) additive has been developed. The grease was prepared using various MoS2 concentrations to investigate the role of additives in improving grease performance. A four-ball tribological test was conducted to investigate the surface morphology, wear depth, and volume loss of the steel ball. The results indicated that the MoS2 additive reduced the coefficient of friction and wear scar diameter compared to pure palm olein grease. The value of 0.5 wt.% was considered the optimum value, reflecting the best grease performance indicated by low friction coefficient, wear diameter, wear depth, and volume loss. Elemental analysis revealed that the MoS2 additive was deposited onto the wear tracks, improving the surface protection. Thus, this additive was found to have a good potential for improving palm olein-based grease.