Study of the anisotropic frictional and deformation behavior of surfaces textured with silver nanorods

In this study, we investigated the anisotropic frictional and deformation behavior of a nanostructured thin film (NSTF) consisting of silver (Ag) nanorods tilted at an average angle of 65° to the surface normal and compared to that of a continuous thin film of Ag. The NSTF demonstrated significant frictional anisotropy with the coefficient of friction (COF) being ~45% higher against the tilt direction than that of along the tilt direction. Furthermore, the NSTF sample exhibited lower COF than the continuous thin film at low applied normal load and higher COF at higher normal loads. In addition, the deformation of the nanorods increased with increasing normal loads and is shown to be also dependent on the direction of the scratch.