Strong friction of silicon carbide nanowire films.

Nanostructures exhibit strong adhesion, which gives rise to friction even without normal loads. For technological applications, friction involves non-zero compressive loads. However, such frictional behavior of the 1D nanostructures remains unknown. Taking SiC-SiO(2) core-shell nanowire films (NWFs) as a prototype, this paper reports strong friction of the 1D nanostructures. The maximum static frictional force between an NWF and a macroscopic solid surface is 5-12 times that between two macroscopic solids; the frictional coefficient scales similarly.