Tribological characteristics of monodispersed cerium borate nanospheres in biodegradable rapeseed oil lubricant

•Monodispersed stearic acid-capped cerium borate composite nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal method. Their morphologies, element compositions, size distributions, crystal and chemical structures, hydrophobic characteristics were also characterized.•The surface-capped cerium borate nanoparticles exhibited excellent dispersing stability in rapeseed oil. As new lubricating additives, they were also outstanding in enhancing friction-reducing and anti-wear capacities of rapeseed oil in biodegradable rapeseed oil. The results presented in this paper would be of important significance for developing green lubricants and lubricant additives.•The prominent tribological performances of SA/CeBO3 in rapeseed oil were investigated and attributed to the formation of a composite boundary lubrication film mainly composed of lubricous tribochemical species on the tribo-surfaces. Stearic acid-capped cerium borate composite nanoparticles, abbreviated as SA/CeBO3, were prepared by hydrothermal method. The morphologies, element compositions, size distributions, crystal and chemical structures, hydrophobic characteristics, of SA/CeBO3 were characterized by scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, dynamic laser particle size analyzer, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, respectively. The friction and wear performances of SA/CeBO3 as a lubricating additive in a rapeseed oil were evaluated on a four-ball tribo-tester. The tribochemical characteristics of the worn surfaces were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the hydrophobic SA/CeBO3 were monodispersed nanospheres with an average diameter of 8nm, and exhibited excellent dispersing stability in rapeseed oil. Meanwhile, SA/CeBO3 nanospheres were outstanding in enhancing friction-reducing and anti-wear capacities of rapeseed oil. The prominent tribological performances of SA/CeBO3 in rapeseed oil were attributed to the formation of a composite boundary lubrication film mainly composed of lubricous tribochemical species of B2O3, CeO2 and Fe2O3, and the adsorbates of SA/CeBO3 and rapeseed oil, on the tribo-surfaces.