The application belongs to the technical field of
nanomaterials and
lubrication, and discloses a hydrophobic modified
graphene quantum dot, a preparation method thereof and application of the
graphene quantum dot in lubricating oil, and the preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) using
citric acid as a
carbon source, hydrophilic GQDs are prepared by a
pyrolysis method; (2) using o-
xylene as a
solvent and
lauric acid as a modification
reagent, the hydrophilic GQDs are subjected to hydrophobic modification, and then the hydrophobic modified
graphene quantum dot is obtained by low-temperature
precipitation,
centrifugation and purification, and can be applied in lubricating oil. The application solves the problems that traditional GQDs are prone to agglomeration, have poor dispersibility and limited lubricating effect in non-polar lubricating oil, and the prepared hydrophobic
graphene quantum dot has excellent friction-reducing and wear-resisting synergistic effect, can form a continuous and uniform protective layer rich in carbon and
oxygen at a friction interface, can simultaneously reduce a
friction coefficient and a wear volume, the lowest
friction coefficient is 0.063, the wear volume is reduced by 90.84%, and the comprehensive lubricating performance is outstanding.