An investigation of tribochemical reaction kinetics from the perspective of tribo-oxidation

The tribochemical reaction rate of multiply alkylated cyclopentane (MAC) was studied from the perspective of tribo-oxidation. The activation energy of MAC oxidation reaction and respective decrease of activation energy owing to catalysis from iron and Fe 3 O 4 were determined by means of auto-oxidative tests. The sum of the reduced activation energy due to iron and Fe 3 O 4 was less than that in tribological test, which highlighted the crucial role of shear stress in accelerating tribo-oxidation reaction. Additionally, the experimental process was replicated by utilizing reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulation results revealed the significance of shear stress in tribo-oxidation reaction and the catalytic mechanism of iron, Fe 3 O 4 , and shear stress for promoting oxidation reaction was interpreted.