Ionic lubricants could improve fuel economy according to researcher.
The latest thinking from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee US, claims that re-engineered versions of engine oil could include a small fraction of ionic compounds, thereby saving signficant amounts of base oil.
Improving engine oil flow helps fuel economy, but often creates greater engine wear. This latest research has focussed on creating anti-wear additives which are more efficient.
Until now, ionic liquids were shown to be improved anti-wear compounds. However, instability when exposed to the elements led to them form highly corrosive acids. Another challenge was creating a viable solution of ionic liquids and base oil because it is difficult to dissolve salt in oil.
The Oak Ridge team were able to adjust their designs so that the new molecule became a much less viscous liquid. The re-engineered oil not only met wear-and-tear standards of current synthetic motor oils; it also improved fuel economy by 2% in a standard fuel-efficiency test.
It only remains for the re-engineered oil to be used in real-environment vehicle tests to see the scale of performance change that can be achieved.