SEAWEED BIOLUBRICANT SYNTHESIS METHOD AS A BASE MATERIAL FOR NANOLUBRICANTS FOR AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY APPLICATIONS

Abstract

This invention discloses a method for synthesizing seaweed through intermittent ultrasonic steps to produce highly stable biolubricants as a base material for nanolubricants in agricultural machinery. Seaweed was chosen due to its abundant availability, high productivity, and non-competitive nature with food, but its drawbacks are low yield, thermal degradation, and limited oxidative stability when extracted by conventional methods. The developed method uses intermittent ultrasonication with a 10-second on-off cycle and a 2-second off cycle at room temperature. The optimum solvent ratio was set at absolute ethanol: n-hexane = 1:1 (v / v) to balance the extraction of polar and nonpolar lipid fractions. The intermittent ultrasonication steps according to this invention are capable of increasing lipid yield by up to ±8% (a 30–200% relative increase compared to conventional methods) while maintaining chemical stability during storage.FTIR test results identified O–H, C=O, and C–O–C groups relevant to oxidative resistance and tribological properties. UV-Vis testing at 364 nm showed a decrease in absorbance from 2.95 (day-1) to 2.87 (day-30), with 97.3% retention and only 2.7% degradation. Visually, the oil remained clear without discoloration, sediment, or phase separation. This biolubricant also demonstrated viscosity stability over a temperature range of –10 to 100 °C.