Superlubricity from the Nano to the Macroscale

Dear colleagues,

Defined as the state of ultra-low friction between surfaces in relative motion, the concept of superlubricity has received rapidly increasing interest over the past few years. Despite the fact that superlubricity was initially considered to be strictly limited to stringent environmental conditions (such as those associated with ultrahigh vacuum) and miniscule length scales (on the order of nanometers), recent developments have shown that it can indeed be realized under ambient conditions and at dimensions approaching the macroscale. In fact, researchers around the world are now pursuing a variety of strategies to establish robust states of superlubric sliding. While the traditional state of superlubric sliding attributed to structural mismatch (i.e. structural superlubricity) can be realized at atomically flat interfaces formed by solid surfaces and, in particular, two-dimensional materials, superlubricity achieved via alternative means, including but not limited to the use of liquid lubricants and exotic proposals such as quantum superlubricity, is also gaining attention.

Despite the accelerated rate of progress in fundamental superlubricity research, the transition from basic science to technologically relevant applications, with crucial implications for energy savings, requires further concentrated effort from the scientific community. Motivated by this rationale, this Special Issue will present the latest superlubricity work from prominent researchers in the field, with the aim of providing a comprehensive view of the state of the art and perspectives on future directions.

Guest Editor

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• Structural Superlubricity
• Superlubricity of Two-Dimensional Materials
• Liquid Superlubricity
• Thermolubricity
• Quantum Superlubricity
• Applications of Superlubricity
• Theoretical Aspects of Superlubricity