Comparison of the tribological behaviors of various organic molecular films

다양한 유기분자막의 마찰특성 비교

Monolayers such as self-assembled monolayer (SAM) have received considerable attention to reduce stiction and friction in micro-devices and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Various organic molecular films were investigated to obtain better understanding of their tribological behaviors and adhesion property. The organic molecular films studied in this work are: epoxysilane SAMs, octadecyltricholosilane (OST), multi-layers composed of epoxysilane SAMs, poly〔styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene〕(SEBS) and compound of epoxy resin and poly (paraphenylene) (EP/PPP). The pull-off forces of these films were also obtained from force-distance curves measured in static mode of operation of atomic force microscope (AFM). Tribological tests were conducted with a ball-on-flat reciprocating friction tester. The OST showed the lowest pull-off force, indicating its low adhesion property. It was revealed that, the OST, EP/PPP and the multi-layer of epoxysilane SAMs, SEBS and EP/PPP exhibited good tribological properties at the lower load (0.3 N) whereas the OST showed best performance at the higher load (1.8 N).