Oils · Journal
Ionic Liquids as ZDDP Replacements: They Work at 18 °C and Fade at 80 °C
Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a…
Direct answer
Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a temperature-limited candidate that still needs a package around it.
- Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP.
- Phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP work across 18/60/80 °C (Wear 2025) shows temperature windows, not a drop-in ashless package for Group II diesel. Solubility and seal swell are the Indian blender’s first experiments.
- Name the test method on any number that reaches a TDS.
- Patents and papers are prior art, not a product Lubechem sells.
- Written for Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages.
Why ZDDP is being pushed (ash, aftertreatment, Zn)
Why ZDDP is being pushed (ash, aftertreatment, Zn). Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a temperature-limited candidate that still needs a package around it.
Phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP work across 18/60/80 °C (Wear 2025) shows temperature windows, not a drop-in ashless package for Group II diesel. Solubility and seal swell are the Indian blender’s first experiments.
Literature/prior art for this note: Wear 2025, 206382 — phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP, 18/60/80 °C. Read it as evidence under its own method, not as a formula you can paste onto an Indian CoA.
The reader is Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages. Search phrases around “ionic liquid ZDDP replacement” should land on a decision: duty, method, purge, SKU sequence — then a link to the manufacturing page, not a second SOP.
What the 2025 Wear matrix actually showed
What the 2025 Wear matrix actually showed. Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a temperature-limited candidate that still needs a package around it.
Phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP work across 18/60/80 °C (Wear 2025) shows temperature windows, not a drop-in ashless package for Group II diesel. Solubility and seal swell are the Indian blender’s first experiments.
The reader is Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages. Search phrases around “ionic liquid ZDDP replacement” should land on a decision: duty, method, purge, SKU sequence — then a link to the manufacturing page, not a second SOP.
Solubility, chloride, corrosion — the other gates
Solubility, chloride, corrosion — the other gates. Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a temperature-limited candidate that still needs a package around it.
The reader is Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages. Search phrases around “ionic liquid ZDDP replacement” should land on a decision: duty, method, purge, SKU sequence — then a link to the manufacturing page, not a second SOP.
How Lubechem would stage an IL in a DI, not as the DI
How Lubechem would stage an IL in a DI, not as the DI. Wear (2025) tested three phosphonium ILs at 1 wt% in PAO4 against ZDDP. [P4442][DEP] won at 18 °C with a thin phosphate film and lost anti-wear at 60–80 °C, sometimes worse than neat PAO. An IL is not a drop-in ZDDP. It is a temperature-limited candidate that still needs a package around it.
The reader is Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages. Search phrases around “ionic liquid ZDDP replacement” should land on a decision: duty, method, purge, SKU sequence — then a link to the manufacturing page, not a second SOP.
Lubechem will not invent a client list or a certificate. If the next step is a trial, send the duty brief. If the next step is legal clearance of a filing, that sits with a patent attorney.
What this page is for
Additive-pillar content with a sharp, citable finding. Stops clients buying IL hype. Images are labelled conceptual illustrations. Patents and papers are cited so you can go read them.
What the paper is evidence for — and what it is not
| Paper says | Useful to a plant | Over-read |
|---|---|---|
| A mechanism or ranking under stated conditions | Adds a test or a caution to the brief | Not a drop-in Indian SKU |
| Wear 2025, 206382 — phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP, 18/60/80 °C | Read the method section before the conclusion | Do not market the DOI on a drum |
| Limited speed / load / oil | Match your duty or discard | Do not scale a ball-on-disc to a kiln girth gear |
| Additive name or treat | A screening idea | Treat rates in papers are not commercial packages |
People-first note: this is dated editorial for decision-making. It is not a scaled rewrite of the manufacturing pages, and it is not legal or certification advice.
Questions plants actually ask
Is ionic liquid ZDDP replacement a drop-in for whatever we run today?
Almost never. Thickener family, base-oil viscosity, NLGI grade and additive response all have to be matched to the duty. A purge plan comes before a plant-wide switch. Compatibility charts are screens, not guarantees.
Can we put ionic liquid ZDDP replacement on the TDS because a patent or paper mentioned it?
No. Patents are prior art. Papers are evidence under stated conditions. A TDS line has to be backed by a method you actually ran, on oil you actually stock, at a treat you can buy twice.
Who owns the formula if Lubechem develops it?
Ownership is the contract. The practice is independent formulation with IP transfer as scoped — not a branded additive package you can never leave. Ask for the assignment language before the first kettle.
What should Additive chemists building CK-4 / SP packages send in the first brief?
Duty (load, speed, water, temperature, relube), the current TDS and fail mode, target specs (IS / ASTM / OEM), and whether the product is sold, used in-house, or exported. Photographs of the failed component help more than adjectives.
Literature and prior art
Citations below are orientation, not a freedom-to-operate opinion. Lubechem does not copy claimed compositions and does not treat a patent as a product endorsement.
- Wear 2025, 206382 — phosphonium ILs vs ZDDP, 18/60/80 °C — cited as prior art or literature, not as a product Lubechem sells
- ASTM D445 kinematic viscosity — grade identity, not film strength
- ASTM D4172 / D2783 wear and EP — bench screens, not a field duty cycle
- API 1509 base-oil groups — saturates, sulfur, VI — not a performance licence
- SAE J300 — engine-oil viscosity grades