Chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Elisa Riedo and her team have discovered the law of tension (Researchers exploring the soft future) that leads to a better understanding of energy dissipation and friction and to design two-dimensional materials that can reduce energy loss.
Conflict is a daily occurrence; it allows drivers to stop their cars by braking and dancers to perform complex movements on different surfaces. However, it can also be a negative effect that causes the loss of a lot of energy in the production process, the transport sector and other areas. Tribologists – who study the science of surface interactions and relative motion – have confirmed that a quarter of the world’s energy losses are due to friction and wear.
Although friction is widespread and important in technology, the basic laws of friction are still poorly understood, and it is only recently that scientists have been able to take advantage of advances in nanotechnology. Understand, for example, the microscopic origin of da Vinci’s law, which holds it. the friction force is proportional to the applied load.
Now, Riedo and NYU Tandon postdoctoral researcher Martin Rejhon have discovered a new method to measure the surface resistance between two atomic layers and found that this quantity is closely related to friction, according to the new law.
The work — conducted in collaboration with NYU Tandon graduate student Francesco Lavini and colleagues from the International School for Advanced Studies, the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and Charles University in Prague — could lead to efficient manufacturing process, greener cars. , and the sustainable world as a whole.
Riedo explains, “The interaction between an atomic layer of matter and its contents governs the electronic, mechanical and chemical properties, so it is important to understand this topic. well, both at the level of principle and technology, to find ways to reduce the power of death caused by conflict.
The researchers examined large films of graphite and epitaxial graphene grown in different layers of stacking and bending, measuring the hard-to-reach surface roughness of the atomic layers in the substrate. They found that modulus (a measure of a material’s ability to resist shear deformation and maintain stiffness) is largely controlled by the arrangement and interaction of atomic layers and demonstrated its importance in the control and prediction of slide friction and two-dimensional material prepared. . Their experiments showed a general linear relationship between the frictional force at one point of contact and the modulus of elasticity for each of the graphite materials they studied.
Their 2022 paper, “Relationships between Surface Beauty and Frictional Forces in 2D Materials” was published online in Nature Nanotechnology and was approved by the United States Department of Energy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US Army.
“Our results can also be generalized to other 2D objects,” said Riedo, who leads the PicoForce Lab at NYU Tandon. “This provides a way to control atomic friction and other interactions, and has potential applications in small mobile devices, the transportation industry and other areas.”
“Elisa’s project is a good example of NYU Tandon’s commitment to a sustainable future,” said Dean Jelena Kovačević, “and a testament to ongoing research under our new engineering program. support, which focus on addressing climate change and environmental pollution through a four-pronged approach we call AdMAR, for Avoidance, Mitigation, Rehabilitation and Support.
