Effect of hydrogen adsorption on the atomic-scale wear of few-layer graphene

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulation method was used to study the influence of hydrogen adsorption on the wear process of few-layer graphene. We observed that hydrogen atoms are prone to adsorb on three distinct regions around the wear cavity of graphene, and they have different influence mechanisms on the wear process of graphene. The absorbed hydrogen can promote the breaking of stretched carbon chains, or change the propagation direction of wear cavity and lead to the early failure of the graphene layer. Meanwhile, we also found that the interfacial CC bonds tend to form at the high-stress position in the contact area. The combination of these mechanisms results in a different wear behavior of graphene in hydrogen than in vacuum.