Jabbarzadeh A.
The University of Sydney, AU
Keywords: adhesion, gold, low friction, molecular dynamics simulations, nanotribology, SAMs, self-assembled monolayers, surface modifications
Increasing technological advances to make devices and processes at the nanoscale, have made it necessary to effectively minimize the friction and adhesion of moving mechanical assemblies, such as those in micro- or nano-electromechanical (MEMS/NEMS) devices. Lubrication and frictional properties of such systems are complex and often do not obey established laws of macroscale lubrication and friction. Two aspects of the problem are extremely important, for such systems. How the properties of the surfaces and the type of the lubricant affect the lubrication and interaction of the contacting surfaces. In this work, the results of large scale molecular dynamics simulations will be presented to demonstrate, how the properties of confined lubricant can be affected and controlled by manipulating the structure, roughness, and type of the substrate. Two types of lubricants, including freely moving molecules and self assembled monolayers will be described in this work. It will be shown by simply manipulating the characteristics of the contacting surfaces, one can change the rheological state of the film and as a result the tribological properties of the contact. Self assembled monolayers (SAMs) will be shown to have diverse mechanical, tribological and thermal properties, and should be employed by understating such considerations.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Nanotechnology 2012: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational (Volume 2)
Published: June 18, 2012
Pages: 657 - 660
Industry sector: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
Topic: Informatics, Modeling & Simulation
ISBN: 978-1-4665-6275-2