Temperature-Dependent Mechanochemical Wear of Silicon in Water: The Role of Si–OH Surfacial Groups

Mechanochemical wear has attracted much attention due to its critical role in micro/nanodevice applications, reliable microscopy, and ultraprecision manufacturing. As a process of stress-associated chemical reactions, mechanochemical wear strongly depends on temperature; however, the impact mechanism is not fully understood at any length scale. Here, we reported different water-temperature dependence of mechanochemical wear on two typical single crystal silicon (Si) surfaces, involving oxide-covered Si partially terminated with Si–OH groups and oxide-free Si fully terminated with Si–H groups. As the water temperature increased from 10 to 80 °C, the mechanochemical wear of the oxide-covered Si underwent a process from no obvious surface damage to significant material removal but that occurring at all temperatures decreased gradually on the oxide-free Si surface. The opposite temperature-dependence was found to have a strong relation to the growth or degeneration of the Si–OH surfacial groups. The mechanochemical wear on the both Si surfaces decreased with the Si–OH coverage rising, which facilitated the growth of strongly hydrogen-bonded ordered water and then suppressed the chemical reaction between the sliding interfaces. These results can provide new insight into the mechanism of the surrounding temperature affecting the reliable micro/nanodevices, manufacturing, and microscopy.