Non-Amontons frictional behaviors of grain boundaries at layered material interfaces

YM Song and X Gao and R Pawlak and SY Huang and A Hinaut and T Glatzel and O Hod and M Urbakh and E Meyer, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 15, 9487 (2024).

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53581-y

Against conventional wisdom, corrugated grain boundaries in polycrystalline graphene, grown on Pt(111) surfaces, are shown to exhibit negative friction coefficients and non-monotonic velocity dependence. Using combined experimental, simulation, and modeling efforts, the underlying energy dissipation mechanism is found to be dominated by dynamic buckling of grain boundary dislocation protrusions. The revealed mechanism is expected to appear in a wide range of polycrystalline two-dimensional material interfaces, thus supporting the design of large-scale dry superlubric contacts. This work demonstrates non-Amontons frictional behavior and negative differential friction coefficients at graphene/Pt(111) surface grain boundaries due to dynamic buckling of dislocations, providing vital insights for the design of macroscopic dry superlubric contacts.

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