Combining an amorphous carbon (a-C) film with a lubricating oil can significantly improve the friction performance and lifetime of moving mechanical components. However, the friction mechanism is not well understood owing to a lack of information regarding the structure of the interface when exposed to high contact pressure. Here, we select linear alpha olefin, C₅H₁₀, as a lubricant and study the evolution of the structure of the a-C/C₅H₁₀/a-C sliding interface under contact pressure via reactive molecular dynamics simulation. Our results suggest that introducing C₅H₁₀ into the a-C/a-C interface reduces the friction coefficient by up to 93% compared with no lubricant, although the lubricating efficiency strongly depends on the contact pressure. In particular, increasing the contact pressure not only induces the binding of the lubricant with a-C, but also facilitates the dissociation of the C₅H₁₀ carbon-carbon skeleton by specific scissions, which governs the friction behavior. These results disclose the underlying lubrication mechanism and could enable the development of new and effective lubricating systems with long lifetimes.

将无定形碳（aC）膜与润滑油结合使用可以显着提高运动机械零部件的摩擦性能和寿命。然而，由于缺乏有关在高接触压力下的界面结构的信息，因此对摩擦机理的理解还不够。在这里，我们选择线性α烯烃C ₅ H ₁₀作为润滑剂，并通过反应分子动力学模拟研究了在接触压力下aC / C ₅ H ₁₀ / aC滑动界面的结构演变。我们的结果表明引入C ₅ H ₁₀与无润滑剂相比，进入aC / aC界面的摩擦系数最多可降低93％，尽管润滑效率在很大程度上取决于接触压力。特别地，增加接触压力不仅引起润滑剂与αC的结合，而且还促进了通过特定的割裂而使C ₅ H ₁₀碳-碳骨架解离，这决定了摩擦行为。这些结果揭示了潜在的润滑机理，并可能使新的有效润滑系统的开发具有较长的使用寿命。