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Superlubricity Enabled by Pressure-Induced Friction Collapse.
Junhui Sun1,2,3,4,5, Yanning Zhang6, Zhibin Lu1
1State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000 , China.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
|May 2, 2018
Summary
Friction unexpectedly decreases with increasing load in graphene systems, collapsing to near zero. This phenomenon, observed in multiple materials, is due to a load-induced flattening of the energy landscape, enabling superlubricity.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Tribology
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- Friction typically increases with applied normal load.
- Understanding friction at the atomic scale is crucial for developing advanced materials and technologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the load-dependent friction behavior of graphene/graphene interfaces.
- To explore the underlying mechanisms responsible for unusual friction reduction.
Main Methods:
- First-principle calculations were employed to simulate the sliding friction.
- Analysis of the potential energy surface under varying normal loads.
Main Results:
- A significant decrease in sliding friction was observed with increasing normal load for graphene/graphene.
- Friction collapsed to near-zero values at a critical load due to a transition to a flattened potential energy surface.
- This friction collapse phenomenon was validated in other sliding systems like Xe/Cu, Pd/graphite, and MoS2/MoS2.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals a novel mechanism for achieving superlubricity through load-induced flattening of the energy landscape.
- This finding challenges conventional friction models and offers new strategies for designing ultra-low friction interfaces.
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