Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00190 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866918367102763008 |
|---|---|
| author | Han, Minhao Peng, Deli Yang, Dinglin Wang, Jin Zheng, Yi Hu, Guofeng Qi, Meng Shao, Yifan Li, Jiaying Ding, Feng Xu, Zhiping Urbakh, Michael Zheng, Quanshui |
| author_facet | Han, Minhao Peng, Deli Yang, Dinglin Wang, Jin Zheng, Yi Hu, Guofeng Qi, Meng Shao, Yifan Li, Jiaying Ding, Feng Xu, Zhiping Urbakh, Michael Zheng, Quanshui |
| contents | Structural superlubricity (SSL) promises nearly frictionless and wearless sliding, but has until now been considered a special and extreme interfacial phenomenon limited to micro- and nanoscale contacts. Here, we demonstrate robust macroscale SSL within a single sub-millimeter graphite contact. Previously reported near-zero friction coefficients, where friction is nearly independent of normal load, have only been observed at microscale contacts under low loads. Our system expands both contact size and load into the macroscopic regime, exhibiting friction coefficients that fluctuate around zero and reach values as low as $10^{-6}$ across a broad load range from 1 mN to 0.5 N. Negative friction coefficients are also observed. Similar behavior is observed at graphite/MoS$_2$ interfaces, indicating that macroscale SSL is a generalizable phenomenon across flat layered materials. These findings overturn long-standing scaling limitations and establish macroscale SSL as a paradigm-shifting platform for next-generation mechanical and electromechanical systems. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_00190 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Observation of robust macroscale structural superlubricity Han, Minhao Peng, Deli Yang, Dinglin Wang, Jin Zheng, Yi Hu, Guofeng Qi, Meng Shao, Yifan Li, Jiaying Ding, Feng Xu, Zhiping Urbakh, Michael Zheng, Quanshui Materials Science Structural superlubricity (SSL) promises nearly frictionless and wearless sliding, but has until now been considered a special and extreme interfacial phenomenon limited to micro- and nanoscale contacts. Here, we demonstrate robust macroscale SSL within a single sub-millimeter graphite contact. Previously reported near-zero friction coefficients, where friction is nearly independent of normal load, have only been observed at microscale contacts under low loads. Our system expands both contact size and load into the macroscopic regime, exhibiting friction coefficients that fluctuate around zero and reach values as low as $10^{-6}$ across a broad load range from 1 mN to 0.5 N. Negative friction coefficients are also observed. Similar behavior is observed at graphite/MoS$_2$ interfaces, indicating that macroscale SSL is a generalizable phenomenon across flat layered materials. These findings overturn long-standing scaling limitations and establish macroscale SSL as a paradigm-shifting platform for next-generation mechanical and electromechanical systems. |
| title | Observation of robust macroscale structural superlubricity |
| topic | Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00190 |