Microencapsulation of friction modifier additives and other additives for performance enhancement in automotive and industrial applications
AssigneeThe George Washington University
InventorStephen Hsu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to microencapsulated friction modifiers additives used in lubricants or other solutions, to their preparation, and to the use thereof to improve fuel economy of the engines and machines by enhancing friction reduction and prolonging the friction reduction time period.
Claims12
A method for microencapsulating an organic friction modifier, the method comprising:
- (a) coupling the organic friction modifier in solution with a neutral surrogate molecule or a surrogate molecule having a surface charge opposite to that of the organic friction modifier, to form an organic friction molecule having reduced polarity or a lower surface charge density;
- and
- (b) encapsulating the organic friction modifier having reduced surface charge by either a solvent evaporation process, an interfacial polymerization process, or a layer-by-layer deposition process.
A method of producing one or more through-holes in a capsule shell of a capsule comprising one or more oil additives formed during an encapsulation process, the method comprising:
- coupling one or more oil additives with a surrogate molecule to form an oil additive having a negatively charged surface;
- encapsulating the oil additive having the negatively charged surface in a capsule shell;
- and
- adding one or more non-wetting agents during encapsulation process to form one or more though-holes in the capsule shell,
- wherein the one or more through holes allow for continuous release of the oil additive from the capsule in a working automotive engine.
A method of allowing an encapsulated oil additive to pass through a filter in a working automotive engine, the method comprising converting an encapsulated oil additive with a negatively charged surface to an encapsulated oil additive with a positively charged surface, thereby allowing the encapsulated oil additive to pass through a filter in the working automotive engine,
- wherein the encapsulated oil additive is prepared by a method comprising:
- (a) coupling an oil additive with a surrogate molecule to form an oil additive having a negatively charged surface;
- and
- (b) encapsulating the oil additive having the negatively charged surface.
A method of encapsulating two or more oil additives in a single capsule, the method comprising:
- (a) encapsulating a first mixture of pre-paired oil additives to form a first encapsulated oil additive package, wherein encapsulating comprises:
- coupling the pre-paired oil additives with a surrogate molecule to form pre-paired oil additives having reduced polarity or a lower surface charge density;
- and
- encapsulating the pre-paired oil additives having reduced surface charge;
- (b) repeating step (a) one or more times to form one or more additional encapsulated oil additive package(s);
- (c) encapsulating the product of step (a) and the product of step (b) into a single capsule in the presence of an additive that allows a surface charge of the product of step (a) and/or the product of step (b) to be reduced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.