Don’t hold the onions

A “nano-onion” sounds like a topping for the world’s smallest pizza. In reality, it’s the core constituent of the Tool-X nanofluid that’s added to oil- and water-based metalworking fluids, noted Jim English, president of Nano Synthetics, which makes the additive that also contains deionized water.

According to the company, the nano-onions are particulates that measure about 10nm in diameter and are created through detonation synthesis, a process that transforms explosives into carbon-based nano-onions, which can absorb lubricants. The structure consists of a hard diamond-like core and an outer shell of amorphous carbon and graphene.

Courtesy of Nano Synthetics

The Tool-X nanofluid additive from Nano Synthetics contains trillions of carbon nano-onions.

English explained that nano-onions are excellent lubricants because they remove heat from the cutting tool and don’t break down in the high temperatures found at the cutting surface. “Graphene is the most thermally conductive material known to man, and Tool-X conducts heat from the coolant and tool, minimizing the need for chillers,” he said. “Graphene technology is the future of lubrication.”