Interplay between Interface Diffusion and Boundary Slip Underlying Graphite-Lubricated Metal Nanoforming

JX Xiang and YP Yao and H Fang and C Lu and Z Liu, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 134, 176204 (2025).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.176204

By designing carbon nanotube based nanochannels and exploiting the recent developed thermomechanical nanomolding technique, we reveal that the interface diffusion and boundary slip mechanisms play a key role in metal nanoforming. The former dominates the matter transport at the atomic scale and is significantly affected by surface defects, while the latter is closely related to the flow units at the continuum scale, and more sensitive to the apparent interfacial adhesion work than atomic scale defects. In particular, the excellent lubrication of graphitic materials maintained at high temperatures and in air is uncovered from the defect-insensitive boundary slip mechanism. Our findings not only clarify the fundamental physical processes behind metal nanoforming, but also provide new insights into nanofriction and lubrication.

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