Graphene Oxide Colloidal Suspensions as Cutting Fluids for Micromachining—Part I: Fabrication and Performance Evaluation

This paper is aimed at investigating the effects of graphene oxide platelet (GOP) geometry (i.e., lateral size and thickness) and oxygen functionalization on the cooling and lubrication performance of GOP colloidal suspensions. The techniques of thermal reduction and ultrasonic exfoliation were used to manufacture three different types of GOPs. For each of these three types of GOPs, colloidal solutions with GOP concentrations varying between 0.1 and 1 wt.% were evaluated for their dynamic viscosity, thermal conductivity, and micromachining performance. The ultrasonically exfoliated GOPs (with 2–3 graphene layers and lowest in-solution characteristic lateral length of 120 nm) appear to be the most favorable for micromachining applications. Even at the lowest concentration of 0.1 wt.%, they are capable of providing a 51% reduction in the cutting temperature and a 25% reduction in the surface roughness value over that of the baseline semisynthetic cutting fluid. For the thermally reduced GOPs (TR GOPs) (with 4–8 graphene layers and in-solution characteristic lateral length of 562–2780 nm), a concentration of 0.2 wt.% appears to be optimal. The findings suggest that the differences seen between the colloidal suspensions in terms of their droplet spreading, evaporation, and the subsequent GOP film-formation characteristics may be better indicators of their machining performance, as opposed to their bulk fluid properties.