Modulation of frictional torque of nanoparticle near graphene-covered SiC nanowires

We investigate the frictional torque acting on a nanoparticle rotating near graphene-covered SiC nanowires. The physical mechanisms for the enhancement of the frictional torque acting on the nanoparticle are analyzed in detail. We find that the frictional torque is intensively dependent on the rotation frequency of the nanoparticle, the filling factor of SiC nanowires, and the chemical potential of graphene. Several peaks appear in the frictional torque curve as the rotation frequency of the nanoparticle increases. When the rotation frequency is small, the frictional torque increases linearly with the rotation frequency. While the relationship between frictional torque and rotation frequency is complex when the rotation frequency becomes large. The frictional torque increases as the chemical potential increases at a low rotation frequency. However, at high rotation frequency, the frictional torque increases quickly as the chemical potential increases, while it will decrease as the chemical potential continues to increase after reaching the maximum value. The results obtained in this work are meaningful for understanding the Casimir friction. Graphical abstract The relationship between the frictional torque and the rotation frequency of nanoparticle near different configurations. The frictional torque increases linearly with rotation frequency when it is small, while the relationship between frictional torque and rotation frequency is complex when it is large. The chemical potential of graphene is set to $$\mu =0.1$$ μ = 0.1 eV and the filling factor of SiC nanowires is set to $$f=0.5$$ f = 0.5 .