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Water tribology on graphene
Hartmann E N'guessan1, Aisha Leh, Paris Cox
1Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, P. O. Box 10053, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA.
Nature Communications
|December 6, 2012
Summary
Sliding water drops on graphene requires force independent of resting time, unlike other surfaces. Graphene
Area of Science:
- Tribology
- Materials Science
- Surface Science
Background:
- Liquid drop adhesion on surfaces typically increases with resting time due to substrate deformation and molecular re-orientation.
- Classical experiments demonstrate a time-dependent increase in sliding force for liquid drops on various materials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of resting time on the lateral adhesion force of water drops on graphene.
- To explore the unique tribological properties of graphene in liquid drop-surface interactions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a centrifugal adhesion balance to measure the lateral force required to slide water drops.
- Observed the three-phase contact line morphology of water drops on graphene using microscopy.
Main Results:
- The lateral force to slide water drops on graphene was found to be practically invariant with resting time.
- A unique micrometric serrated form of the three-phase contact line was observed.
- These findings contrast with the time-dependent behavior observed on other surfaces.
Conclusions:
- Graphene's chemical homogeneity prevents the molecular re-orientation and substrate deformation responsible for the time effect in other materials.
- Graphene offers a unique, time-invariant surface for studying liquid drop-surface tribology.
- This work establishes graphene as a valuable test bed for fundamental liquid-surface interactions.
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