Self-Assembled Graphene Film as Low Friction Solid Lubricant in Macroscale Contact

Promoted by the demand for solid lubricants, graphene has been proved to be a promising material for potential applications in reducing friction and wear. Here, a novel lubricating system where graphene sliding against graphene is developed to achieve low friction in macroscale contact. And the large area graphene film used here were prepared by a unique self-assembly technique based on Marangoni effect. Low friction coefficient of about 0.05 is obtained, and it is demonstrated that the film thickness, applied normal load and annealing process all have important influences on the tribological properties of graphene. The expedient fabrication procedure of large-area graphene film with excellent transferability and high-performance friction-reducing behaviors of the developed lubricating system both have a promising perspective in engineering applications.