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Temperature Dependence of Friction at the Nanoscale: When the Unexpected Turns Normal

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Abstract

The dynamics of frictional motion have been studied for hundreds of years, yet many key aspects of these important processes are not understood. The main challenge in predicting frictional response is the complexity of highly non-equilibrium processes going on in any tribological contact. This includes the continuous detachment and reattachment of multiple microscopic junctions at the sliding interface, the kinetics of which are controlled by the interface temperature. Our experiments reveal a non-monotonic enhancement of dry nanoscale friction at cryogenic temperatures for different material classes. We propose a model that reproduces the experimental observations and shows that the peak in temperature dependence of friction emerges from two competing processes acting at the interface: the thermally activated formation as well as the rupturing of an ensemble of atomic contacts. Our experiments and simulations provide a direct link between the temperature and velocity dependencies of friction, thus offering a new conceptual framework to describe the dynamics of dry nanoscale friction.

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Acknowledgments

Discussions with and support by Hendrik Hölscher (University of Karlsruhe) and Harald Fuchs (University of Münster) are gratefully acknowledged. The study conducted in Tel Aviv, as part of the European Science Foundation EUROCORES Program FANAS (CRP ACOF and AQUALUBE), was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (1109/09), and the EC Sixth Framework Program ERASCT-2003-980409. The study conducted in Münster was supported by the German Science Foundation DFG (Grant SCHI 619/6-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Itay Barel & Michael Urbakh

  2. Institute of Physics and CeNTech (Center for Nanotechnology), University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Lars Jansen & André Schirmeisen

Authors
  1. Itay Barel
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  2. Michael Urbakh
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  3. Lars Jansen
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  4. André Schirmeisen
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Correspondence to André Schirmeisen.

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Barel, I., Urbakh, M., Jansen, L. et al. Temperature Dependence of Friction at the Nanoscale: When the Unexpected Turns Normal. Tribol Lett 39, 311–319 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-010-9675-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-010-9675-4

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