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Title: Switchable friction enabled by nanoscale self-assembly on graphene

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10745· OSTI ID:1259670
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [1]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics; Appalachian State Univ., Boone, NC (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Physics
  5. National Inst. for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Graphene monolayers are known to display domains of anisotropic friction with twofold symmetry and anisotropy exceeding 200%. This anisotropy has been thought to originate from periodic nanoscale ripples in the graphene sheet, which enhance puckering around a sliding asperity to a degree determined by the sliding direction. Here we demonstrate that these frictional domains derive not from structural features in the graphene but from self-assembly of environmental adsorbates into a highly regular superlattice of stripes with period 4-6 nm. The stripes and resulting frictional domains appear on monolayer and multilayer graphene on a variety of substrates, as well as on exfoliated flakes of hexagonal boron nitride. We show that the stripe-superlattices can be reproducibly and reversibly manipulated with submicrometre precision using a scanning probe microscope, allowing us to create arbitrary arrangements of frictional domains within a single flake. Ultimately, our results suggest a revised understanding of the anisotropic friction observed on graphene and bulk graphite in terms of adsorbates.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; US Air Force Office of Science Research (AFOSR); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Basic Research Program of China; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
Grant/Contract Number:
FA9550-12-1-02520; PHY-0830228; 2013CB934500; 61325021; 25106006; 91223204; 262480621; AC05-00OR22725; XDB07010100
OSTI ID:
1259670
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1325467
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 58 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (12)

Interface Characterization and Control of 2D Materials and Heterostructures journal July 2018
Macroscopic self-reorientation of interacting two-dimensional crystals journal March 2016
Universality of strain-induced anisotropic friction domains on 2D materials journal November 2018
Ultrahard carbon film from epitaxial two-layer graphene journal December 2017
Unidirectional molecular assembly alignment on graphene enabled by nanomechanical symmetry breaking journal February 2018
Rippling of graphitic surfaces: a comparison between few-layer graphene and HOPG journal January 2018
Graphene used as a lateral force microscopy calibration material in the low-load non-linear regime journal November 2018
Shear anisotropy-driven crystallographic orientation imaging in flexible hexagonal two-dimensional atomic crystals journal August 2019
Mechanical properties of two-dimensional materials and their applications journal December 2018
Laser irradiation-induced laminated graphene/MoS 2 composites with synergistically improved tribological properties journal May 2018
Theory-assisted determination of nano-rippling and impurities in atomic resolution images of angle-mismatched bilayer graphene journal September 2018
Length-extension resonator as a force sensor for high-resolution frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy in air journal March 2016

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
anisotropy
friction
graphine