Strategies to lower the interface sliding friction force: A first-principles study case for the WSe2/graphene system

Abstract

Lowering the sliding friction force is a major way to improve the energy loss, mechanical failures, and inefficiencies of a moving mechanical system. We investigate the possibility of lowering the friction force for the WSe2/graphene system by importing rotation angle and surface functionalization through a DFT study. The introduction of a surface rotation angle of 19.11° can reduce the friction force by nearly one order of magnitude to 6.37 × 10−5∼7.92 × 10−5 nN/atom, and the surface F-functionalized graphene can further reduce the friction force by more than half to 3.10 × 10−5∼3.56 × 10−5 nN/atom. The low interface interaction, smooth interface, and irregular atom arrangement are responsible for the superlow friction force. Our study suggests possible ways to lower the interface sliding friction force.