LEAPS-MPS: Seeking Superlubricity at Single Molecule Level on Graphene Nanoribbons

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。非技术摘要：摩擦是一种基本的物理现象。如果没有摩擦，走路或开车是不可能的。另一方面，摩擦对机械设备有负面影响，因为它会导致磨损、耗散能量和浪费不可再生的自然资源。该项目旨在研究有机分子和石墨烯纳米带(GNR)形成的接触上的超润滑性，一种摩擦几乎为零的状态。通过测量滑动在GNRs上的有机分子的摩擦力，该项目研究了原子尺度的摩擦规律，并探索了超润滑性的起源，以补充高中教科书中提供的宏观摩擦规律，并旨在摩擦学方面取得突破。该项目可能导致GNRs作为超级润滑剂单层材料应用于减少自旋电子器件和其他微纳机电系统的摩擦和磨损。该项目是老道明大学(ODU)在单原子/分子水平上的第一个物理和材料项目。它向ODU介绍了以前在校园中无法获得的研究专业知识和仪器资源，并扩大了来自不同科学和工程领域的教职员工和学生的研究参与。这项研究还旨在启发年轻人的思想，包括一名ODU研究生，大量来自少数群体的ODU本科生，由汉普顿路社区的非裔美国学生组成的黑人物理学家协会(SBP)的学生，以及来自周围地区的K-12高中生。技术摘要：该项目利用GNRs作为固态支持平台来容纳有机分子，使用低温扫描隧道显微镜(STM)和qPlus原子力显微镜(Q+AFM)来量化GNRs上单个分子运动所需的力，旨在发现GNRs上的超润滑性，其静摩擦力比以前观察到的小1-2个数量级。在三种不同类型的GNR上，研究了各种分子系统，包括平面和非平面的单有机分子，对称和非对称的结构，以揭示原子尺度摩擦和超润滑性的起源。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).NONTECHNICAL ABSTRACT: Friction is an essential physical phenomenon. It would be impossible to walk or drive without friction. On the other hand, friction has negative impacts on mechanical devices because it causes wear, dissipates energy, and wastes non-renewable natural resources. This project aims to investigate superlubricity, a state where friction almost vanishes, on the contacts formed by organic molecules and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). By measuring friction force on organic molecules sliding on GNRs, the project investigates the laws of friction at atomic scale and explores the origins of superlubricity, to complement the macroscopic laws of friction available in high school textbook and to aim for breakthroughs in tribology. The project may lead to GNRs as superlubricant monolayer materials applied to reduce the friction and wear of spintronic devices and other micro- and nano-electromechanical systems. The project is the first on physics and materials at the single atom/molecule level at Old Dominion University (ODU). It introduces ODU to research expertise and instrumentation resources not previously accessible on campus, and it broadens research participation among faculty and students from various science and engineering fields. This research also aims to inspire young minds, involving an ODU graduate student, a large number of ODU undergraduate students from minority groups, students from the Society of Black Physicists (SBP) formed by African American students in the Hampton Roads community, as well as K-12 high school students from the surrounding area. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: The project utilizes GNRs as solid-state supporting platforms to accommodate organic molecules, to quantify the force required to move a single molecule on GNRs using a low temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) and a qPlus Atomic Force Microscope (Q+AFM), and aims to discover superlubricity on GNRs with static friction 1-2 orders of magnitude smaller than previously observed. Various molecular systems including single organic molecules, planar and non-planar, symmetric and non-symmetric in structure, on top of three different types of GNRs are investigated to unveil the origins of atomic scale friction and superlubricity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.