Everything a lubricant does,
it does in a film
a few atoms thick.
Nova Additives supplies the additive chemistry that builds and defends that film — antiwear, antioxidant, dispersant, detergent, friction modifier — to European formulators who need a second source they can actually qualify.
- Grades
- 44
- Chemistries
- 10
- Stock location
- ARA
- Sample despatch
- 48h
Under boundary lubrication the surfaces touch. What stands between them is a reaction film a few tens of nanometres thick, built in situ by the additive package. Every grade in this catalogue exists to form that film, feed it, or stop something else destroying it.
Most European blenders are single-sourced on the components that matter most.
Four companies supply the overwhelming majority of the additive chemistry that goes into European lubricants. That concentration is efficient right up until the moment a plant goes down, a force majeure letter arrives, or a lead time doubles — and then a blending schedule that was planned in quarters has to be replanned in days.
The usual answer is to hold more stock. The better answer is a second source that has already been through your qualification process, with a certificate of analysis you have learned to trust and a specification you have already run on your own bench.
That is the whole business. We are not trying to displace your incumbent. We are trying to be the grade you can switch to without re-opening an OEM approval.
Ten chemistries. 44 grades. One specification discipline.
Aminic Antioxidants
High-temperature radical scavenger
Alkylated diphenylamines and naphthylamines. They terminate the peroxy radical chain at temperatures where hindered phenols have already been consumed, which makes them the backbone of any oil expected to survive above roughly 120 °C. Aminic and phenolic antioxidants are near-always used together — the pair is synergistic, not redundant.
Phenolic Antioxidants
Primary low-to-mid temperature radical scavenger
Hindered phenols built on the 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol motif. They donate a hydrogen atom to peroxy radicals and are the more cost-effective half of a paired antioxidant system below ~120 °C. Liquid grades matter for cold-blend and low-viscosity fluids where a solid will not dissolve without heat.
Ashless Dithiocarbamates
Multifunctional antiwear / antioxidant, zero ash
Methylene bis dibutyl dithiocarbamate delivers antiwear, extreme-pressure and antioxidant performance without contributing metal, phosphorus or sulphated ash. That combination is exactly what the low-SAPS trend and aftertreatment-compatibility requirements have made valuable.
Extreme-Pressure Additives
Load-carrying film former under boundary lubrication
Active and inactive sulphur carriers that decompose at asperity contact temperatures and lay down an iron sulphide film. This is what stands between a gear tooth and scuffing failure. Sulphur activity level is the variable that decides yellow-metal compatibility.
Zinc Dialkyldithiophosphates
Antiwear, antioxidant and corrosion inhibitor in one molecule
Still the most cost-effective antiwear chemistry ever commercialised. Primary alkyl ZDDPs are thermally more stable and preferred in industrial and heavy-duty applications; secondary alkyls decompose at lower temperature and film faster, which is why they dominate passenger-car engine oils. Alcohol chain length sets both the thermal stability and the hydrolytic stability.
Molybdenum Friction Modifiers
Friction reduction via in-situ MoS₂ tribofilm
Organomolybdenum compounds decompose under load to deposit molybdenum disulphide in the contact. The measurable result is a lower boundary friction coefficient and a direct fuel-economy credit — which is why these carry the highest value density of anything in this catalogue and why they matter regardless of powertrain.
Corrosion & Rust Inhibitors
Ferrous surface passivation and water displacement
Neutral alkylbenzene sulfonates adsorb onto steel and physically exclude water from the surface. Neutral — as opposed to overbased — means they contribute rust protection without the acid-neutralising reserve, so they are used where TBN is not wanted.
Yellow Metal Deactivators
Copper passivation and catalytic-oxidation suppression
Triazoles and thiadiazoles chelate onto copper and its alloys. Two jobs at once: they stop the metal from being attacked, and they stop dissolved copper ions from catalysing oxidation of the base oil. In a turbine or gear oil, omitting these is how you get a fluid that fails oxidation testing for reasons nobody can explain.
Ashless Dispersants
Soot and sludge suspension in engine oils
Polyisobutenyl succinimides — a polar head that binds contaminant, an oil-soluble PIB tail that keeps it suspended. This is the largest additive class by volume in any crankcase formulation. Borated grades add antiwear and improve seal and thermal performance; higher-TBN grades carry more acid-neutralising reserve.
Overbased Detergents
Acid neutralisation and deposit control
Overbased calcium and magnesium sulfonates carry a colloidal carbonate core that neutralises combustion acids, plus a surfactant shell that keeps piston surfaces clean. TBN is the working currency here. Magnesium is chosen over calcium where low-speed pre-ignition or ash-related deposit behaviour is the constraint.
Four reasons a formulator lets a new supplier onto the bench.
A second source that is actually qualified.
Most European blenders run single-sourced on the components that matter most. We exist to be the qualified alternative — same specification, separate supply chain, held in stock at Rotterdam rather than quoted from another continent.
Batch data with every drum, not on request.
Every consignment ships with a certificate of analysis against the published specification. Retained samples are held for the full shelf life. If a batch moves inside its range, you hear it from us first.
REACH, CLP and the paperwork that follows.
Substances placed on the EU market under a documented REACH route, with SDS in the language of the receiving country under Regulation (EU) 2020/878. Compliance is our cost to carry, not yours.
Technical people who have blended oil.
Cross-reference against the grade you run today, sample quantities that suit a bench trial rather than a tank, and an answer to a formulation question inside a working day.
Where this chemistry earns its place.
Engine Oils
Passenger-car, heavy-duty and gas engine crankcase formulations, including low-SAPS.
5 chemistries →Industrial Gear Oils
Enclosed gear drives, wind turbine gearboxes and heavy industrial reducers.
5 chemistries →Hydraulic Fluids
Anti-wear hydraulic oils, including zinc-free and fire-resistant fluids.
5 chemistries →Greases
Lithium, lithium-complex, calcium sulfonate and polyurea thickened greases.
5 chemistries →Metalworking Fluids
Neat cutting oils, soluble oils, semi-synthetics and forming lubricants.
4 chemistries →Turbine & Compressor Oils
Steam, gas and hydro turbine oils, rotary and reciprocating compressor fluids.
4 chemistries →Driveline & Transmission
Automatic and manual transmission fluids, axle oils, EV reduction-gear fluids.
5 chemistries →Rust Preventives & Quenching
Slushing oils, export packaging fluids, quench oils and heat-treatment fluids.
4 chemistries →Send us the grade you run today.
Tell us the specification you are holding and the application it goes into. We will come back with the cross-reference, a full technical data sheet and a sample sized for a bench trial — not a tank.