Load dependent frictional response of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotube films

Here we use microscratch testing to demonstrate how a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) forest material can exhibit variable adhesion properties with solid surfaces ranging from negligible adhesion at low loading due to the normal alignment of SWCNTs to maximum adhesion at high loading that exploits the extraordinary sidewall adhesion of SWCNTs. This observation, which exhibits no analog in conventional bulk materials, is correlated to loading-induced structural modification of the low-density SWCNT-substrate interface morphology. This observation opens new pathways to use structural modification of low density materials to engineer and control a wide range of adhesion properties with solid surfaces.

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