Effect of strain on the tribological properties of honeycomb borophene/graphene heterostructures: An electronic hierarchical understanding of ultra-low friction

Here, the tribological properties of graphene/honeycomb borophene heterostructures under strain are investigated using the first-principles method. We found that in this heterostructure, friction can be reduced substantially by applying tensile strain, leading to a reduction of approximately 1–2 orders of magnitude. It is shown that biaxial tensile strain alters the interlayer interaction, which changes the tribological properties during sliding, by controlling the rearrangement of electrons between the layers. In addition, we found differences in the tribological properties of this heterostructure under different strain states as well as in the subtle fluctuations of the electronic structure. Our research provides an electronic-level understanding and atomic-scale strategies for strain regulation of friction in heterostructures.