Interviews & Media

As a Dutch proverb says: when one sheep crosses the dam, more will follow. The same holds for humans at a red traffic light-and, surprisingly, also for sliding surfaces. Image: Lukas Kernell / Luukse Kunst. 

Beeld: Stefan Schweihofer via Pixabay 

Jasprit Bumrah bowls during the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, November 2, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP 

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 number of chemical silicon-oxygen-silicon (Si-O-Si) bonds forming between the two surfaces at small scales on the one hand, and the friction force measured at large scales on the other. 

Experiments have probed the friction between a silicon sphere and a silicon wafer as the humidity in the surrounding air was varied.

Experiments have probed the friction between a silicon sphere and a silicon wafer as the humidity in the surrounding air was varied.