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Monolayer MoS2 has garnered significant interest due to its exceptional optoelectronic and tribological properties and potential application as a lubrication layer in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems. Although the nanotribological performance of CVD-grown MoS2 and the characteristics associated with CVD growth have been extensively studied, challenges remain in designing specific regions on the monolayer MoS2 surface with reduced friction. Here, we develop nuclei with an onion-shell structure on CVD-grown monolayer MoS2 to achieve remarkable friction and adhesion reduction. These nuclei, dispersed on high-quality and crystalline MoS2, consist of an oxi-sulfide core surrounded by a multilayer MoS2 shell. Lateral force microscopy results indicate that onion-shell nuclei create an ensemble effect that decreases friction and adhesion by up to 45% and 20%, respectively, compared to those of MoS2 because of the multilayer structure and in-plane tensile strain, both of which minimize out-of-plane deformation. DMT model calculations and step-down load-friction correlations illustrate that the work of adhesion, shear strength, and coefficient of friction on the nucleus decrease by more than 22%, 19%, and 34%, respectively, compared with those on MoS2. The onion-shell nucleus presents a novel lubrication strategy to mitigate friction and adhesion in CVD-grown 2D materials, with potential applications in lubricating nanoscale friction pairs.
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The articles published in this open access journal are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).