Adhesion-dependent negative friction coefficient on chemically modified graphite at the nanoscale

Published

October 14, 2012

Author(s)

Zhao Z. Deng, Alexander Smolyanitsky, Qunyang Li, Xi-Qiao Feng, Rachel J. Cannara

Abstract

A negative friction coefficient is observed for graphite using atomic force microscopy. The magnitude of the friction coefficient increases with adhesion, which we control by exposing graphite to different conditions. We demonstrate that the negative coefficient is a mechanical effect arising from changes in the bending stiffness of the top layer of graphite with applied load, and not a result of a change in atomic corrugation. We further show that the adhesive force at which the onset of this negative friction-load dependence occurs is determined by the interlayer binding energy.

Citation

Nature Materials

Volume

11

Issue

12

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3452

Local Download

Keywords

nanoscale friction, nanoscale adhesion, graphite, interlayer binding energy, atomic force microscopy, friction force microscopy

Citation

Deng, Z. , Smolyanitsky, A. , Li, Q. , Feng, X. and Cannara, R. (2012), Adhesion-dependent negative friction coefficient on chemically modified graphite at the nanoscale, Nature Materials, [online], https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3452, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=908424 (Accessed October 11, 2025)