Nanoscale friction of self-assembled monolayers

Abstract

Self-assembledmonolayers (SAMs)have played and still continue playing a major role in the control of the interface behaviors, especially in fluidic and as lubrication coatings. This chapter introduces and focuses on frictional properties of molecular homogeneous thin films; particularly the influence of chain length, terminal group and packing state of SAMs on the one hand, and that of the environmental and experimental conditions on the other hand, on energy dissipation during friction. Then, we will address the important issue of nanoscale heterogeneities and their influence on the frictional behavior and nanotribological performance of SAMs, using binarymolecular films of both regular and random distribution of the heterogeneities. Because real surfaces are often heterogeneous in their chemical composition, these nanoscale heterogeneous SAMs provide good model systems to study and tune the frictional properties of tribological coatings.