Superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons on gold surfaces

Kawai S, Benassi A, Gnecco E, Soede H, Pawlak R, Feng X, Muellen K, Passerone D, Pignedoli CA, Ruffieux P, Fasel R, Meyer E (2016)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Science American Association for the Advancement of Science

Book Volume: 351

Pages Range: 957-961

Journal Issue: 6276

DOI: 10.1126/science.aad3569

Abstract

The state of vanishing friction known as superlubricity has important applications for energy saving and increasing the lifetime of devices. Superlubricity, as detected with atomic force microscopy, appears when sliding large graphite flakes or gold nanoclusters across surfaces, for example. However, the origin of the behavior is poorly understood because of the lack of a controllable nanocontact. We demonstrated the superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons when sliding on gold with a joint experimental and computational approach. The atomically well-defined contact allows us to trace the origin of superlubricity, unraveling the role played by ribbon size and elasticity, as well as by surface reconstruction. Our results pave the way to the scale-up of superlubricity and thus to the realization of frictionless coatings.

Involved external institutions

Universität Basel CH Switzerland (CH) Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (Empa) / Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology CH Switzerland (CH) IMDEA-Nanociencia ES Spain (ES) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung (MPI-P) / Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Kawai, S., Benassi, A., Gnecco, E., Soede, H., Pawlak, R., Feng, X.,... Meyer, E. (2016). Superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons on gold surfaces. Science, 351(6276), 957-961. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad3569

MLA:

Kawai, Shigeki, et al. "Superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons on gold surfaces." Science 351.6276 (2016): 957-961.

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