An atomistic investigation of the effect of strain on frictional properties of suspended graphene

We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a diamond probe scanned on a suspended graphene to reveal the effect of strain on the frictional properties of suspended graphene. The graphene was subjected to some certain strain along the scanning direction. We compared the friction coefficient obtained from different normal loads and strain. The results show that the friction coefficient can be decreased about one order of magnitude with the increase of the strain. And that can be a result of the decreased asymmetry of the contact region which is caused by strain. The synthetic effect of potential energy and the fluctuation of contact region were found to be the main reason accounting for the fluctuation of the friction force. The strain can reduce the fluctuation of the contact region and improve the stability of friction.