Smooth sliding and superlubricity in the nanofriction of collapsed carbon nanotubes

We present the characteristics of the sliding friction in large-diameter collapsed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as emerged from molecular dynamics simulations. The friction force is found to depend strongly on the CNT sliding velocity, the interface contact area, interface commensuration, and temperature. The non-classical smooth sliding and superlubric behaviors identified at the molecular level give a useful starting reference to the ongoing efforts aimed at engineering the mechanical load transfer in material systems comprising collapsed CNTs.