This report presents ultrahigh vacuum measurements of the frictional properties of the non-polar (100) surface of vanadium carbide (VC) as a function of the room temperature uptake and reaction of ethyl acetate, triethyl phosphate, and trimethyl phosphate. Atomic force microscopy, employing a silicon nitride probe tip, has been used to determine the changes in friction and interfacial adhesion as a function of adsorbate uptake. Changes in surface morphology have been monitored with scanning tunneling microscopy while the composition of the surface species formed through the reaction of these adsorbates with the VC surface has been determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Adsorption and reaction of ethyl acetate leads to an increase in friction with little change in interfacial adhesion. The adsorption and reaction of triethyl phosphate and trimethyl phosphate have no influence on either the friction or adhesion properties of VC. The observed results are discussed in terms of the surface chemical composition, the extent of surface coverage, and the molecular details of the adsorbed species.

The frictional properties of TiC(100), Ti 0.3 V 0.6 C(100), and VC(100) surfaces in contact with a silicon nitride probe tip have been investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) under ambient pressures of dry nitrogen as well as environments of different relative humidities. Calibration of normal and lateral force has permitted the determination of the quantitative frictional properties of the three carbide samples on a nanometer length scale. In these studies, TiC(100) exhibits the lowest friction coefficient, ranging from $0.044 to $0.082 under the different environments. VC(100) and Ti 0.3 V 0.6 C(100) have similar friction coefficients ($0.07) under dry nitrogen conditions, yet VC exhibits a larger friction coefficient ($0.158) than Ti 0.3 V 0.6 C ($0.129) under conditions of higher relative humidity ($55%). Condensation of water vapor with increasing relative humidity results in an increase in the frictional response for all the three samples. The experimental results demonstrate that the frictional properties of the three carbide samples are correlated to their surface composition and surface free energy.