Contact at the nanoscale has important implications in the use of tip-based nanomanufacturing, data storage, and imaging with scanning probes. Tip wear reduces predictability in manufacturing and image quality such scanning probe applications. As a means to reduce wear, hard wear-resistant materials such as diamond-like carbon (DLC), ultra nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) and amorphous carbon (a-C:H) have been used to coat scanning probe tips. Understanding of the behavior of these materials in contact is critically important towards their successful application. Recent studies using a TEM nanoindenter showed significant variation in both pull-in and pull-off forces obtained during the repeated indentation of a DLC tip on to a diamond surface. Furthermore, the pull-in and pull-off forces do not appear to be correlated. In this presentation, results from molecular dynamics simulations of a DLC tip on hydrogen terminated diamond surfaces will presented. The tip was constructed with a structure and geometry similar to that of the tip used in experiment. The resulting simulations show that the pull-in force appears to be dominated by long range dispersion forces while the pull-off force is determined by the number of covalent bonds formed during the contact. For a given surface, the formation of bonds during indention appears to be a stochastic process with multiple indents of the same tip at the surface same location showing a widely varying number of bonds formed. It is therefore hypothesized that the variation in pull-off forces observed in experiment are also related to the number of bonds formed across the tip-surface interface.

Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS₂) is a solid lubricant used widely in aerospace applications, capable of providing ultralow friction (coefficients, µ < 0.01) in inert environments such as the vacuum found in outer space. Research over the years has led to the development of MoS₂ nanocomposites that are less susceptible to the effects of environment and aging. Yet, the fundamental mechanisms responsible for environmental sensitivity and degraded friction behavior remain highly debated. Tribological experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to understand the evolution of friction behavior for MoS₂ coatings as a function of temperature, lattice commensurability and defect density. The oxidative resistance of MoS₂ coatings prepared with differing degrees of defect density and basal orientation was also assessed via high-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering (HS-LEIS) depth profiling, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), tribological experiments and MD. Through these findings, we discuss new connections between atomic-scale mechanisms and macro-scale friction behavior of this class of lubricant in a wide range of environments.

The friction reducing properties of graphene has been shown to have a number of interesting properties, such as a dependence on the number of layers of the lubricant present, an exceptional dependence on the surface adhesion properties of the underlying substrate, and environmental stability. These properties have been attributed to its low mechanical strength to out-of-plane deformation, its innate thinness, and the influence of the environment on the surface energy. In this work, the friction reducing properties of graphene are examined using experiments and simulation. In particular, the influence of surface energy and associated wettability of graphene are explored as a property that can influence the lubrication properties of graphene, but also friction hysteresis. While little to no variation in pull-off forces have been observed on varying numbers of graphene covering the surfaces in experiments, the impact of the variance of surface energy on friction, and in particular friction under humid environments, suggests that surface energy may have a stronger influence on graphene’s friction reducing ability than suggested in previous work.

Tribologically-induced chemical modifications of surfaces interacting with lubricant additives or other molecules present in the environment surrounding the sliding media can substantially change the adhesion and friction of materials in contact. Therefore, is highly desirable to understand how they take place. However, tribochemical reactions are difficult to monitor in real-time by experiments, which leaves a gap in the atomistic understanding required for their control.

We apply ab initio molecular dynamics to monitor chemical reactions involving common solid lubricants, namely molybdenum disulfide, graphene/graphite and carbon-based films, interacting with water molecules in the presence of mechanical stresses. Our simulations elucidate atomistic mechanisms relevant to understand the effects humidity on the lubricating properties of these materials.[1,2]

As second issue, we investigate the tribochemistry of sulfur, phosphorus and graphene on iron and discuss the role of metal passivation in reducing the interfacial adhesion and shear strength. We generalize the result by establishing a connection between the tribological and the electronic properties of interfaces. This adds a new piece of information for the ultimate understanding of the fundamental nature of frictional forces. [3,4]

[1] P. Restuccia, G. Levita and M. C. Righi Graphene and MoS2 interacting with water: a comparison by ab initio calculations Carbon 107, 878 (2016).

[2] S. Kajita and M. C. RighiA fundamental mechanism for carbon-film lubricity identified by means of ab initio molecular dynamics, Carbon 103, 193 (2016).

[3] M. C. Righi, S. Loehlé, M. I. De Barros Bouchet, S. Mambingo-Doumbeand J. M. Martin A comparative study on the functionality of S- and P-based lubricant additives by combined first principles and experimental analysis RSC Advances, 6, 47753 (2016).

[4] P. Restuccia and M. C. Righi Tribochemistry of graphene on iron and its possible role in lubrication of steel Carbon 106, 118 (2016).

Nanometer-scale crystals of the 2D oxide molybdenum trioxide (MoO₃) were formed atop the transition metal dichalcogenides MoS₂ and MoSe₂. The MoO₃ nanocrystals are partially commensurate with the dichalcogenide substrates, being aligned only along one of the substrate’s crystallographic axes. These nanocrystals can be slid only along the aligned direction and maintain their alignment with the substrate during motion. Using an AFM probe to oscillate the nanocrystals, it was found that the lateral force required to move them increased linearly with nanocrystal area. The slope of this curve, the interfacial shear strength, was significantly lower than for macroscale systems. It also depended strongly on the duration and the velocity of sliding of the crystal, suggesting a thermal activation model for the system. Finally, it was found that lower commensuration between the nanocrystal and the substrate increased the interfacial shear, a trend opposite that predicted theoretically.

Mechanical properties of molecules adsorbed on materials surfaces are increasingly vital for the applications of molecular thin films as well as for the fundamental understanding of quantum friction. Here, we employ atomic/molecular manipulation schemes to investigate mechanic and symmetry dependent lateral diffusion processes of individual molecules on various substrates using a combined scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and q+ atomic force microscopy system at low temperature and in ultrahigh vacuum environment. Lateral force measurements of individual sexiphenyl, an oligomer type molecule, exhibits an interesting friction behavior originated from the symmetry of the molecule-substrate system. We found ~160% increase in the lateral force during the diffusion of the molecule across a Ag(111) surface depending on the long molecular axis alignment on the surface. A comparison of the shape and symmetry dependent molecular diffusion process is realized by manipulating cobalt-porphyrin molecules on aAu(111) surface. The results are in full agreement with molecular dynamic simulations. In addition, we will also discuss atomic and molecular level force measurement using an STM tip, which opens simultaneous electronic, structural and force measurements at the single atom and molecule level.