Self-Retracting Motion of Graphite Microflakes
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Tsinghua used a Kleindiek MM3A probe to slide graphite microflakes off their islands; once released, each flake spontaneously slid back, a self-retraction linked to the weak friction between layers.
The team reports self-retracting motion of graphite: micrometre flakes pushed off highly oriented pyrolytic graphite islands slide back on their own once released. Using an MM3A micromanipulator probe in an SEM to laterally push or rub each island with a few-nanometre accuracy, they weigh the interplay of van der Waals attraction, edge dangling-bond interactions and interlayer shear strength. The result became a touchstone for structural superlubricity in layered materials.
