Dynamic Sliding Enhancement on the Friction and Adhesion of Graphene, Graphene Oxide, and Fluorinated Graphene

Graphene and functionalized graphene are promising candidates as ultrathin solid lubricants for dealing with the adhesion and friction in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). Here, the dynamic friction and adhesion characteristics of pristine graphene (PG), graphene oxide (GO), and fluorinated graphene (FG) were comparatively studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The friction as a function of load shows nonlinear characteristic on GO with strong adhesion and linear characteristic on PG and FG with relatively weak adhesions. An adhesion enhancement phenomenon that the slide-off force after dynamic friction sliding is larger than the pull-off force is observed. The degree of adhesion enhancement increases with the increasing surface energy, accompanied by a corresponding increase in transient friction strengthening effect. The dynamic adhesion and friction enhancements are attributed to the coupling of dynamic tip sliding and surface hydrophilic properties. The atomic-scale stick-slip behaviors confirm that the interfacial interaction is enhanced during dynamic sliding, and the enhancing degree depends on the surface hydrophilic properties. These findings demonstrate the adhesive strength between the contact surfaces can be enhanced in the dynamic friction process, which needs careful attention in the interface design of MEMS and NEMS.