Moving towards green lubrication: tribological behavior and chemical characterization of spent coffee grounds oil

With the EU aiming for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, conventional production cycles must be transformed into cradle-to-cradle approaches. Spent coffee grounds are often dumped in landfills, with their potential as high-quality feedstock for biofuel or bio-lubricant production. Spent coffee grounds oil (SCGO) was investigated for its physicochemical properties while having more free acid groups compared to the reference polyalphaolefin 8 (PAO 8), which may cause faster oxidation. TGA results displayed comparable thermal stability of SCGO and PAO 8 for inert/oxidative atmosphere. The oil composition was characterized by ATR-FTIR, elemental analysis, and GC-EI-MS, where a higher oxygen content was found for SCGO, referring to functional ester/acid groups. The tribological behavior of SCGO was studied as lubricant base oil and as a 5% additive in PAO 8. The condition of fresh and tribologically used oils was investigated with High-Resolution-ESI-MS, and the worn surfaces were evaluated by light microscopy and topographic analysis. The results showed a superior friction coefficient of pure SCGO (mu = 0.092) to PAO 8 (mu = 0.129). The 5% SCGO additive in PAO 8 (mu = 0.095) could significantly reduce friction compared to pure PAO 8 on an unpolished 100Cr6 surface.