Dry Solid Lubricant

Simulated superlubricity, a condition of extremely low friction. In the center is a graphene sheet (red) wrapping around a particle of another material (ochre? yellow? puke?). It does this by itself, just by being in the same place. Below we have an undisturbed sheet of graphene (green). Above we have some unknown material (gray).

The US Army has developed a Dry Solid Lubricant, or DSL, for small arms. If I am reading their report correctly, the stuff is applied when the gun is made and that's it. No more lube needed, ever. Until it wears out and the gun welds itself into a one piece of steel, it which case you send it back to your FOB and wait for them to send you a new one. Mmmm, I don't think that's gonna fly. Probably still need to clean your gun, and maybe you can reapply graphene in the field. Still, I think we are going to see unexpected things happen with this stuff.

    The Army report is a little thin on the science end, so I went looking for pictures, which led me to this whole superlubricity subculture. Looks like nano-technology is expanding beyond microchips.

Via The Firearms Blog.