Recent advances in friction and lubrication of graphene and other 2D materials: Mechanisms and applications

Abstract

Two-dimensional materials having a layered structure comprise a monolayer or multilayers of atomic thickness and ultra-low shear strength. Their high specific surface area, in-plane strength, weak layer-layer interaction, and surface chemical stability result in remarkably low friction and wear-resisting properties. Thus, 2D materials have attracted considerable attention. In recent years, great advances have been made in the scientific research and industrial applications of anti-friction, anti-wear, and lubrication of 2D materials. In this article, the basic nanoscale friction mechanisms of 2D materials including interfacial friction and surface friction mechanisms are summarized. This paper also includes a review of reports on lubrication mechanisms based on the film-formation, self-healing, and ball bearing mechanisms and applications based on lubricant additives, nanoscale lubricating films, and space lubrication materials of 2D materials in detail. Finally, the challenges and potential applications of 2D materials in the field of lubrication were also presented.

Understanding Interlayer Contact Conductance in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

“…As illustrated in Figure a–d, three domains (SLG, BLG, and Cu) showing different friction responses in each panel can be clearly distinguished. Friction forces of both SLG and BLG domains are much smaller than that of bare copper substrate since an ideal graphene film is atomically smooth and has no dangling bond, resulting in low shear strength . Friction force of SLG is larger than that of BLG, which is consistent with previous literature .…”

Synergistic Lubricating Behaviors of 3D Graphene and 2D Hexagonal Boron Nitride Dispersed in PAO4 for Steel/Steel Contact

“…The lubricants are far from perfect, and the service life of conventional lubricants is limited. Therefore, scholars have been looking for high‐performance, environmentally friendly lubricants, [ 2,6 ] and found that lubricant additives [ 7 ] are an effective way to improve performance. [ 8 ] However, current lubricant additives contain several harmful elements which it would be beneficial to remove.…”

“…They have the characteristics of large specific surface area, high in‐plane strength, weak interlayer interaction and good surface chemical stability, and thus have very low friction and wear‐resisting properties. Therefore, 2D materials [ 6,15,16 ] have attracted considerable attention. Numerous efforts have been devoted to the design of materials and surfaces to effectively control friction and wear, from nanoscale to macroscopic scale‐graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, molybdenum disulfide, and so forth.…”

Graphite fluoride and fluorographene as a new class of solid lubricant additives for high‐performance polyamide 66 composites with excellent mechanical and tribological properties

“…Similar to the relationship between graphite and graphene, the GrF platelets also can be exfoliated to fluorographene (FG) nanosheets with several layers. FG, as the youngest graphene based derivative and the thinnest transparent insulator, exhibits similar properties to GrF but has a smaller size and larger specific surface area compared with GrF, which makes FG an excellent advanced material in many areas, such as solid lubricants, super hydrophobic oleophobic coatings, optoelectronic and thermoelectric devices, electrode materials and so on. The unique properties of FG are caused by the fluoride atoms introduced on the surface of carbon, which changes the hybridization of carbon from sp 2 to sp 3 and increases the interlamellar space in the FG nanosheets .…”