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The Friction of a monolayer of layered materials is Found to be higher than multiple layers due to puckering of the thinner films during sliding.
Layered compounds such as graphite and molybdenum disulfide [MoS2J have been used as solid lubricants for many years. Recently it has been discovered that a single, atomically thick sheet of graphite, dubbed graphene, had properties that are quite distinct from those of the bulk material. It has an extremely high electrical conductivity, is remarkably strong and, in spite of its thinness, is impervious to gases.
Graphene has a myriad of potential technological applications from transistors that are a few nanometers across to efficient and cheap photovoltaics. In recognition of the fundamental and technological importance of graphene, this year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester [U.K.], who discovered that graphene could be easily made by "exfoliating" graphite, That is, single graphene layers could be pulled...