In this work, the friction mechanism at the nanoscale of atomically thin materials such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten disulfide (WS2), and muscovite mica was studied with the use of an atomic force microscope (AFM). The AFM scans these materials surfaces with a silicon nitride tip which is attached at the end of a cantilever. The tips slides through the surface and friction is measured by the torsional deflection of the cantilever. Parameters such as applied normal load and sliding speed were varied in order to verify their influences. Surfaces properties such as number of layers, roughness and tip-sample adhesion were also analyzed. The sliding speed experiment shows a linear dependence with the logarithm of the scanning velocity, until friction reaches a saturation point, where it remains the same even at higher velocities. Such dependence is amplified with the number of graphene layers, as a monolayer presents a steeper curve than few layers graphene. The data was fitted using the thermally active Prandtl-Tomlinson model and the tip-sample interaction potential was estimated, as well as the critical forces at which friction saturation occurs and the hop frequency at which a potential barrier is surpassed. In the applied normal load experiment, results shows that both graphene and MoS2 follow the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) model, while WS2 and mica follows the Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov (DMT) model. In order to explain the different behavior in both TMDs samples, a hypothesis associated with the piezoelectric effect is proposed. Furthermore, the influence of airborne contamination in the friction of graphene was studied. Results shows that the contact mechanics is altered due to adsorbed hydrocarbon molecules on the graphene flakes. Initial stages of contamination shows that it propagates from the monolayer to subsequent layers, with a different contaminated area over time rate.