Work

Superlubric sliding in a multi-contact fullerene-molybdenum disulfide heterostructure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Recent research shows that superlubric 2D materials offer great potential for friction reduction, yet their requirements of flatness and small scale hinder real-world applications. Here, we study a multi-contact van der Waals heterostructure, composed of fullerene (C60) molecules sandwiched between molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) atomic layers by molecular-dynamics simulations. We show that despite the multi-contact geometry, the confined layer of C60 nanoparticles exhibits superlubric behavior at high fullerene density or high applied normal force, where the fullerenes’ rotational degrees of freedom are suppressed and the MoS2 layer slides over the fullerenes. These results on the multi-contact sliding of a heterojunction of fullerene nanoparticles and 2D material are useful for guiding nanoscale superlubric properties into macroscopic scale superlubric applications.

Source: Tribology International

DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2025.111317

Authors: D. Zhou, A.K. Gupta, K. Bi, A.S. de Wijn, P. Schall

Institutions: Institute of Physics, Southeast University, University of Amsterdam, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,390

Funders: China Scholarship Council, H2020 European Research Council