Experimental and theoretical investigations of friction properties of graphite intercalated compounds.

Abstract

It is classically admitted that the goodfriction properties of lamellar compounds are strongly related to their anisotropic structure and especially to the existence of weak interlayer interactions through the van der Waals gap separating the basal layers. As it is also known, the presence of the van der Waals gap in the structure of lamellar compounds will allow lot of chemical species to be intercalated in the structure leading both to the expansion of structure parameters and inter layer interactions modifications. The present work is concerned with the experimental and theoretical study of friction propertiesof Graphite Intercalated Compounds (GICs) in order to better understand thetribologiclamellar compounds. In order to modulate the interlayer interactions, two types of intercalated species were used, electrophylic species (AlCl3, FeCl3, SbCl5) and nucleophilic species (Li, K, Rb).