© sirbeagle
© sirbeagle

Graphene as a super lubricant

Researchers from the Graphene Flagship say the ultra-low friction that occurs in graphene-graphene interaction also occurs between graphene and other surfaces.

Frictionless coatings could result in near-zero energy loss between mechanical parts, improving energy efficiency and extending the lifecycle of equipment. The above average lubricity of graphene was demonstrated by researchers using two-dimensional strips of graphene nanoribbons attached to a sharp tip which was then dragged over a gold surface: an experiment that resulted in almost frictionless movement and with a high degree of consistency between observations and computer-based simulations.

Professor Klaus Müllen, of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research at Mainz, Germany, and lead author of the study, wrote: ‘Our results help us to better understand the manipulation of chemicals at the nano level and pave the way for creating frictionless coatings.’

‘Our results pave the way to the scale-up of superlubricity and thus to the realization of frictionless coatings,’ the study’s abstract continues.

By studying the graphene nanoribbons, Müllen and his team hoped to measure the material’s mechanical properties so that they may lead to the development of mechanical and micromechanical applications, and even nanomechanical applications which are more energy efficinet than any current transistors.

Dr Andrea Benassi and Professor Xinliang Feng of the Technical University Dresden, Germany, Professor Roman Fasel of EMPA Zurich, and Professor Ernst Meyer the University of Basel, both Switzerland, also contributed to the study, published in the journal Science.