title: Superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons on gold surfaces.
abstract: The state of vanishing friction known as superlubricity has important applications for energy saving and increasing the lifetime of devices. Superlubricity, as detected with atomic force microscopy, appears when sliding large graphite flakes or gold nanoclusters across surfaces, for example. However, the origin of the behavior is poorly understood because of the lack of a controllable nanocontact. We demonstrated the superlubricity of graphene nanoribbons when sliding on gold with a joint experimental and computational approach. The atomically well-defined contact allows us to trace the origin of superlubricity, unraveling the role played by ribbon size and elasticity, as well as by surface reconstruction. Our results pave the way to the scale-up of superlubricity and thus to the realization of frictionless coatings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. PRESTO (Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology), Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Institute for Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benassi
authors.affiliation: Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia, 28049 Madrid, Spain. Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gnecco
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hajo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Söde
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pawlak
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Xinliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55124 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Passerone
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Carlo A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pignedoli
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruffieux
authors.affiliation: nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fasel
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meyer