There's been a bit of buzz lately about Cera-Tec from Liqui-Moly, purpotedly containing a form of boron nitride (hexagonal) which is supposed to coat and cover irregularities in the metal surfaces and thus reduces friction.
I have found an interesting research paper that recently tested boron nitride against MoS2 and got some interesting results.
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/MM/857.PDF
Basically they tested in a piston/cylinder model, 6 combinations:
1. plain oil(PAO)
2. plain oil + surfactant (detergent)
3. plain oil + MoS2
4. Plain oil + surfactant + MoS2
5. plain oil + boron nitride
6. plain oil + surfactant + boron nitride
They found that even (2) oil + surfactant improves friction, and even more so (as expected) if you have MoS2 added as in 3 and 4. Moreover by spectroscopy they found a layer of particles of MoS2 deposited on the surfaces, also as expected.
However, in the case of the boron nitride they found nothing. Nada. No deposition of boron nitride on the surfaces, not even in traces. Nothing detected by spectroscopy. The coefficient of friction for the samples with BN did not change, and even the gradual reduction over time they observed in plain oil plus surfactant (2) was reversed.
Both the BN and MoS2 were nanoparticles, and the surfactant is one commonly used in oils as additive.
Given the above, how is Cera-Tec supposed to work again?
I have found an interesting research paper that recently tested boron nitride against MoS2 and got some interesting results.
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/MM/857.PDF
Basically they tested in a piston/cylinder model, 6 combinations:
1. plain oil(PAO)
2. plain oil + surfactant (detergent)
3. plain oil + MoS2
4. Plain oil + surfactant + MoS2
5. plain oil + boron nitride
6. plain oil + surfactant + boron nitride
They found that even (2) oil + surfactant improves friction, and even more so (as expected) if you have MoS2 added as in 3 and 4. Moreover by spectroscopy they found a layer of particles of MoS2 deposited on the surfaces, also as expected.
However, in the case of the boron nitride they found nothing. Nada. No deposition of boron nitride on the surfaces, not even in traces. Nothing detected by spectroscopy. The coefficient of friction for the samples with BN did not change, and even the gradual reduction over time they observed in plain oil plus surfactant (2) was reversed.
Both the BN and MoS2 were nanoparticles, and the surfactant is one commonly used in oils as additive.
Given the above, how is Cera-Tec supposed to work again?