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Lubrication Performance of Hydrogenated Graphene on Diamond-Like Carbon Films Based on Molecular Dynamics Simulation

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Abstract

Graphene is a good candidate for solid lubricants due to its unique atomic structure. Its lubrication properties are sensitive to chemical modifications such as hydrogenations. Here, an investigation on the lubrication behavior of hydrogenated graphene on a substrate of diamond-like carbon films is performed via molecular dynamics simulations. Hydrogenated graphene exhibits excellent lubrication behaviors at low or intermediate normal loads, but loses its lubrication effect at high normal loads. In addition, it is demonstrated that the friction force is unaffected by the asperities with small periodicity around the substrate surface. Moreover, the improved lubrication for multilayer hydrogenated graphene is sensitive to its adhesion interactions with substrate, which is different from previously reported cases. This is because the relative movement of concaves changes as the number of graphene layer increases. Although the rigidity of hydrogenated graphene increases induced by chemical modifications, its larger friction force results from the atomic-level roughness. It is believed that these findings can provide a guideline for the superlubricity design based on the chemically modified graphene.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51405517, U1334208) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2015JJ3155, 2019JJ50622). This paper was supported by the High Performance Computing Center of Central South University, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety On Track (Central South University), Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410075, China

    Jiahao Li, Yong Peng, Qian Xu & Lichun Bai

  2. National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Safety Technology for Rail Vehicle, Central South University, Changsha, 410075, China

    Jiahao Li & Yong Peng

  3. Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China

    Xianqiong Tang

  4. Joint International Research Laboratory of Key Technology for Rail Traffic Safety, Central South University, Changsha, 410075, China

    Qian Xu & Lichun Bai

  5. School of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, Hunan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Bo Liu

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  1. Jiahao Li
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Correspondence to Lichun Bai.

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Li, J., Peng, Y., Tang, X. et al. Lubrication Performance of Hydrogenated Graphene on Diamond-Like Carbon Films Based on Molecular Dynamics Simulation. Tribol Lett 69, 12 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-020-01382-x

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