Tunable water-based lubrication behavior of alkyl-and fluoroalkyl-silanes

In this paper,we report the tribological properties of self-assembled molecular(SAM) films of fluoroalkylsilanes and non-fluoroalkylsilanes,with different chain-lengths,adsorbed on Si substrate surfaces by covalent bonds.The SAM films were characterized using a universal ball-disk experimental tester in aqueous solutions.The substrate surface was examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),and the SAM films adsorbed on the Si surfaces were inspected by contact angle measurements and XPS.Lubrication studies revealed that several kinds of fluoroalkylsilanes had similar friction coefficients;the small differences were attributed to the chain flexibility.In contrast,differences in the aqueous lubrication properties of SAM films of non-fluoroalkylsilanes were clearly identified.It is suggested that substitution with fluorine atoms and the surface affinities of fluoroalkylsilanes contributed to redistribution of surface changes,causing variations in lubrication behaviors.