Lithium soap is a

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

consisting of a

lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...

salt of a

fatty acid In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...

. Sodium-based and potassium-based soaps are used as cleaning agents in domestic and industrial applications, whereas lithium soaps are used as components of lithium grease (white lithium). Lithium soaps are produced by

saponification Saponification is a process of cleaving esters into carboxylate salts and Alcohol (chemistry), alcohols by the action of aqueous alkali. Typically aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions are used. It is an important type of alkaline hydrolysis. When the ...

of triglycerides, using

lithium hydroxide Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids. They are soluble in water and slightly soluble in ethanol. Both are available commercially. While ...

lithium carbonate Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt of carbonic acid with the chemical formula, formula . This white Salt (chemistry), salt is widely used in processing metal oxides. It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, Wor ...

as the saponification agent. Lithium soaps are used as

lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, ...

components and form-release agents at relatively high temperatures. The main components of lithium soaps are lithium stearate and lithium 12-hydroxystearate.

Lithium grease

Lubricating greases are commonly formulated as mixtures of an oil and a lithium soap thickener.Angelo Nora, Alfred Szczepanek, Gunther Koenen, "Metallic Soaps" in Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. Some formulations include

PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...

or other substances, such as

molybdenum disulfide Molybdenum disulfide (or moly) is an inorganic chemistry, inorganic compound composed of molybdenum and sulfur. Its chemical formula is . The compound is classified as a transition metal dichalcogenide. It is a silvery black solid that occurs as ...

. Lithium grease adheres particularly well to

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

, is non-

corrosive Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

, may be used under heavy loads, and exhibits good temperature tolerance. It has a dropping point of and resists moisture, so it is commonly used as lubricant in household products, such as electric garage doors, as well as in automotive applications, such as

constant-velocity joint A constant-velocity joint (also called a CV joint and homokinetic joint) is a mechanical coupling which allows the shafts to rotate freely (without an appreciable increase in friction or Backlash (engineering), backlash) and compensates for the a ...

s. Lithium greases using a thickener formed by reacting a simple lithium soap with an acid are known as lithium complex greases and have higher dropping points as well as improvements to other properties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lithium-Based Grease Greases * Organolithium compounds