AVS 51st International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Wednesday Sessions
       Session NS-WeA

Paper NS-WeA10
Quartz Crystal Microbalance Studies of the Friction of Rotating vs. Rigid C60

Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 5:00 pm, Room 213D

Session: Nanotribology and Nanomechanics
Presenter: T. Coffey, Appalachian State University
Authors: T. Coffey, Appalachian State University
J. Krim, North Carolina State University
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Since C@sub 60@ was first discovered, it has intrigued tribologists. Due to its weak van der Waals interaction with most materials, its round shape, and its rapid rotation within its lattice position, many had hopes that C@sub 60@ would make an excellent lubricant, and drew analogies to nano-scale ball bearings. Although most experiments have shown that C@sub 60@ is a comparatively poor lubricant, the question of how the rotation of C@sub 60@ affects friction is still an interesting one. We have designed a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) experiment in ultra-high vacuum to determine how the rotation of C@sub 60@affects slip time (friction). In this experiment, we compare the slippage of methanol at room temperature on one monolayer of stationary C@sub 60@ or slowly rotating (~1 Hz) C@sub 60@ and two layers of quickly rotating (~10@super 9@ Hz) C@sub 60@. We found that the stationary monolayer of C@sub 60@ had longer slip times, or lower friction, than the quickly rotating C@sub 60@, defying the ball-bearing analogy.