Anisotropic Friction of Wrinkled Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Wrinkle structures are commonly seen on graphene grown by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method due to the different thermal expansion coefficient between graphene and its substrate. Despite the intensive investigations focusing on the electrical properties, the nanotribological properties of wrinkles and the influence of wrinkle structures on the wrinkle-free graphene remain less understood. Here, we report the observation of anisotropic nanoscale frictional characteristics depending on the orientation of wrinkles in CVD-grown graphene. Using friction force microscopy, we found that the coefficient of friction perpendicular to the wrinkle direction was ∼194% compare to that of the parallel direction. Our systematic investigation shows that the ripples and "puckering" mechanism, which dominates the friction of exfoliated graphene, plays even a more significant role in the friction of wrinkled graphene grown by CVD. The anisotropic friction of wrinkled graphene suggests a new way to tune the graphene friction property by nano/microstructure engineering such as introducing wrinkles.