AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Tuesday Sessions
       Session TR-TuA

Paper TR-TuA7
Temperature-dependent Atomic-scale Friction and Wear on NaCl(001)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 4:00 pm, Room 19

Session: Molecular Origins of Friction and Wear
Presenter: X. Zhao, University of Florida
Authors: X. Zhao, University of Florida
S.S. Perry, University of Florida
Correspondent: Click to Email
Atomic-scale friction and wear were investigated by scanning a Si3N4 tip on NaCl(001) with variable temperature atomic force microscopy. In the absence of wear, an exponential increase in friction with decreasing temperature was observed. Atomic scale wear was detected through the formation of surface pits with a single atomic layer deep. From quantitative measurements of atomic displacement, microscopic wear coefficients were found to agree with known macroscopic wear properties of this ionic material. Both friction and wear exhibit a thermally activated behavior with different activation energies corresponding to the different energy dissipation processes. The thermal activation energy for friction and wear is ~ 0.12 eV and 0.82 eV, respectively, with wear obviously requiring more energy than friction.