NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.

Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PUBLICATIONS

Effect of elastic deformation on frictional properties of few-layer graphene

Published

Author(s)

Alexander Y. Smolyanitsky, Jason P. Killgore, Vinod K. Tewary

Abstract

We describe the results of Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations of an AFM tip scanned on locally suspended few-layer graphene. The effects of surface compliance and sample relaxation are directly related to the observed friction force. We demonstrate that the reduction of friction with increasing number of graphene layers previously reported in (Lee et al., Science, 2010) in case of a narrow scanning tip can be a result of decreased sample deformation energy due to increased local contact stiffness under the scanning tip. Simulations with varying scan rates indicated that surface relaxation at a given temperature can affect the frictional characteristics of atomically thin sheets in a manner not explained by classical thermally activated models.
Citation
Physical Review Letters
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

nanotribology, friction, elasticity, viscoelasticity, graphene, simulation, brownian dynamics
Polymers, Nanomaterials, Nanophysics and Condensed matter

Citation

Smolyanitsky, A. , Killgore, J. and Tewary, V. (2012), Effect of elastic deformation on frictional properties of few-layer graphene, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=909404 (Accessed October 26, 2025)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact [email protected].

Created January 9, 2012, Updated February 19, 2017
Was this page helpful?