Lubricity of graphene on rough Au surfaces

Abstract: This paper studies the lubricating properties of graphene on randomly rough Au surfaces in sliding nanofriction using molecular dynamics. It is shown that the friction and the consequent heat dissipation decrease more than an order of magnitude in the presence of graphene. The performance of graphene nanoribbons as lubricants is, however, limited because of detachment and displacement at the interface. Sliding contacts lubricated with a stretched graphene sheet exhibit low friction, but possibly also low structural stability. This suggests that the graphene-substrate adherence could be crucial for the lubricity of two-dimensional materials on rough metal surfaces.