Control of Friction and Lubrication using Redox-Active Surface Monolayers

宏观层面的摩擦学现象，即摩擦、润滑和磨损，是接触面之间分子水平相互作用的结果。因此，人们对设计可以通过纳米摩擦学研究的系统越来越感兴趣，在分子水平上描述摩擦效应和表面结构之间的关系。我们将通过改变氧化还原活性星形分子中心存在的电子数量来调整单层与表面的相互作用。环丙烯的还原不会改变臂的结构，因此相邻表面分子之间的相互作用将保持不变。氧化还原活性环丙烯与长烷基链功能化将沉积在表面（例如，HOPG）。一系列具有不同长度烷基链和带电或中性核的类似化合物的摩擦学将使用接触模式AFM和STM进行研究，允许独立调整表面-分子和分子-分子相互作用。

Tribological phenomena at the macroscopic level, i.e., friction, lubrication, and wear, are the result of molecular-level interactions between contacting surfaces. Consequently, there is increasing interest in designing systems that can be studied by nanotribology, delineating the relationship between friction effects and surface structure at the molecular level. We will tune monolayer-to-surface interactions by changing the number of electrons present in the centre of redox-active star-shaped molecules. Reduction of cyclopropeniums occur without altering the structure of the arms, so the interactions between neighbouring surface molecules will stay unchanged. Redox-active cyclopropeniums functionalised with long alkyl chains will be deposited on surfaces (e.g., HOPG). The tribology of a series of similar compounds with different lengths of alkyl chains and with charged or neutral cores will be studied using contact-mode AFM and STM, allowing the surface-molecule and molecule-molecule interactions to be tuned independently.