Transitions between smooth and complex stick-slip sliding of surfaces

Shear measurements were performed on mica surfaces with molecularly thin films of squalane (C30H62) confined between them. Squalane is a branched hydrocarbon liquid that can be in the liquid, glassy, or liquid-crystalline state under confinement. The friction forces, especially the transitions between smooth and intermittent (e.g., stick-slip) sliding, were measured over a wider range of applied loads (pressures), sliding velocities (shear rates), and temperatures than in previous studies. The results reveal that, depending on the conditions, qualitatively different behavior can arise in the same system. These include both abrupt and continuous transitions, both upper and lower critical transition temperatures, short and very long transient effects, and chaotic, sawtooth, or sinusoidal stick-slip that can slowly decay with time or distance sheared. The differences between these branched and simpler, e.g., spherical, unbranched molecules are compared, as well as with unlubricated (dry) surfaces and macroscopic (geological) systems.