Friction is hard to predict and control, especially since surfaces that come in contact are rarely perfectly flat. New experiments demonstrate that the amount of friction between two silicon surfaces, ...

Topological insulators are innovative materials that conduct electricity on the surface, but act as insulators on the inside. Physicists at the University of Basel and the Istanbul Technical ...

Research led by a group from the University of Newcastle has found a new way to make silicone surfaces—and control how slippery they are. The work was published in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

Experiments reveal the factors that determine the friction between the single-atom-thick layers in van der Waals materials, which may have uses in lubrication technology. In a twist. To measure the ...

Drumroll. Researchers create avalanches in a slowly rotating drum containing a liquid suspension of tiny beads. An avalanche occurs when the surface slope becomes large enough that particles (shown in ...

The friction between a silicon ball and silicon wafer was measured in the experimental set-up shown on the left. The new research demonstrates that there is a direct relation between two effects: the ...

Topological insulators are innovative materials that conduct electricity on the surface, but act as insulators on the inside. Physicists have begun investigating how they react to friction. Their ...