Thermal Stability of Lubricating Oil Additives Based on Styrene and n-Alkyl Methacrylate Terpolymers

Abstract

In this work the thermal stability of polymeric additives for the improvement of rheological behavior of mineral lubricating oils was investigated. The systems studied comprised methyl methacrylate (MMA)/dodecyl methacrylate (DDMA)/octadecyl methacrylate (ODMA) and styrene (Sty)/DDMA/ODMA terpolymers. The composition of the terpolymers was determined by the 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molar mass distribution by the size exclusion chromatography. The thermal degradation of terpolymers was studied by the thermogravimetric analysis. Sty/DDMA/ODMA terpolymers exhibited an improved thermal stability in comparison with MMA/DDMA/ODMA terpolymers of the corresponding compositions. Thus, the temperatures of 50% weight loss were found to be 313°C and 363°C for MMA terpolymer and Sty terpolymer, respectively, where x (MMA) = x (Sty) = 30 mol%.