Frictional anisotropy behavior of graphene oxide aerogel/epoxy composite and its friction mechanism exploration

To address the need for friction-controllable interfaces in intelligent equipment and engineering, an anisotropic graphene oxide (GO) aerogel/epoxy resin composite (GA/EP) was developed in this study, which exhibits anisotropic trends in thermal conductivity, mechanical and tribological properties. The top side (T) of the GA/EP composite exhibits optimal tribological performance with a low coefficient of friction (COF) of 0.063 due to its higher thermal conductivity and elastic modulus than lateral side. The COF of lateral axis (LA) direction is 0.095, while that of lateral radial (LR) direction is 0.660. Molecular dynamics simulation results indicate that the low friction stress remains stable at 20–40 atmospheres (atm) in the LA direction that favors the formation of shearfriendly interfaces by reducing interactions between GA/EP and the counterpart, whereas LR’s abrupt stress (50,000–100,000 atm) increase disrupts lubrication. This research meets the demand for differentiated dynamic COF, enhancing the potential of intelligent precision equipment in practical engineering applications.