Molecular contributions to the frictional properties of fluorinated self-assembled monolayers

Abstract

The frictional properties of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed from four different species (n-octyltrichlorosilane, 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane, tridecanethiol, and 13,13,13-trifluorotridecanethiol) were measured on the molecular scale using atomic force microscopy (AFM). On this scale, monolayers containing partially fluorinated alkyl chains exhibited higher frictional properties than monolayers containing analogous fully hydrogenated alkyl chains. Systematic comparison of the frictional properties of these SAMs provided insight into the molecular contributions to the frictional response.