COMPREHENSIVE AND SCIENTIFIC REVIEW ON APPLICATIONS, ADVANCEMENTS AND CHALLENGES OF BIO-LUBRICANTS

In summary, bio-lubricants have the potential to play an important role in achieving worldwide sustainability goals and moving towards environmentally-friendly tribological system applications. Despite the hurdles presented by technical and economic challenges, bio-lubricants continue to illustrate the improving viability of bio-lubricants as both an alternative (from petroleum-based lubricants) and the necessary next step toward sustainable practices in industrial operations given large environmental advantages, continuing technological progress and increasing consumer acceptance by increased biodegradability rates, substantial reduction in toxicity levels, mitigation of large carbon footprints and sourcing from renewable feedstocks that eliminate resource depletion concerns, lower toxicity emissions and increased workplace safety.  Recent advances in chemical modification methods and additive formulations have significantly improved the limitations of bio-lubricants. Bio-lubricants are also important in reducing contamination of our environment, impacting the effects of climate change, conserving finite resources, and protecting ecosystem and human health. Bio-lubricants are anticipated to continue capturing market share in multiple applications, as research continues to develop, volume of production increases, and enabling policies are developed will result in the lubricant industry being transformed to a sustainable state. Policy creation should be focused on creating and incentivizing a comprehensive regulatory structure related to the use of biodegradable CBDs in applications requiring environmentally sensitive materials and/or provide for the carbon pricing mechanisms in bio-lubricant end-user applications. There are high growth markets for bio-lubricants in electric vehicles and wind turbines, because their operating temperatures are lower than those of internal combustion engines, and therefore they are very well aligned with environmental concerns. There must be a concerted effort from all stakeholders, including researchers, industry, and policymakers, to advance the use of bio-lubricants.

[1]   Reeves, C. J., Siddaiah, A., and Menezes, P. L. 2017. “A review on the science and technology of natural and synthetic biolubricants.” J.Bio Tribo-Corros., 3(1): 1–27. [2]    Opia, A. C., Ali, M. K. A., Zulkifli, N. W. M., and Masjuki, H. H. 2023 “A review on bio-lubricants as an alternative green product: tribological performance, mechanism, challenges and future opportunities.” Tribol. Online, 18(1): 18–35. [3]    Muhammed, A. S., Usman, M. A., Garba, S., and Mohammed, A. 2025. “Advancements and challenges in bio lubricant production for sustainable development”. Chem. Afr. [4]    Pal, A., Mondal, S., and Das, S. 2024.“Sustainable bio-lubricants from vegetable oils: chemical modification and waste derived nanoparticles—A review.” Mater. Today Proc., 80: 3615–3622. [5]    Patel, J. R., Chauhan, K. V., Rawal, S., Patel, N. P., and Subhedar, D. 2025. “Advances and challenges in bio-based lubricants for sustainable tribological applications: a comprehensive review of trends, additives, and performance evaluation.” Lubricants, 13(10): 440. [6]     Woma, T. Y., Lawal, A. A., Abdulkareem, S. A., and Hassan, S. 2019. “Vegetable oil based lubricants: challenges and prospects.” Tribol. Online, 14(2): 60–70. [7]   Unnikrishnan, R., Sreekumar, P., and Kumar, M. 2023.“Bio-lubricants from vegetable oils: characterization, modifications, applications and challenges–Review.”Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 182: 113413. [8]   Raof, N. A., Zulkifli, N. W. M., Masjuki, H. H., and Kalam, M. A. 2022. “A review on prospects of plant-based trimethylolpropane esters in biolubricant formulation for various applications.”Front. Mech. Eng., 8: 833438.. [9]   Lee, S. Y., Kim, J. H., and Park, Y. S. 2022. “A bibliometric analysis on the tribological and physicochemical properties of vegetable oil–based bio-lubricants (2010–2021).” Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 29: 19746–19760. [10]                    Ribeiro, B. D., Coelho, M. C., and Silva, L. F. 2024. “Biolubricants based on epoxidized vegetable oils: a review on chemical modifications, tribological properties, and sustainability.” Lubricants, 12: 339.