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posted by CoolHand on Thursday July 23 2015, @04:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the graphene-schmaphene dept.

Argonne scientists used Mira to identify and improve a new mechanism for eliminating friction, which fed into the development of a hybrid material that exhibited superlubricity at the macroscale for the first time. Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) researchers helped enable the groundbreaking simulations by overcoming a performance bottleneck that doubled the speed of the team's code.
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They were amazed by what the computer simulations revealed. When the lubricant materials--graphene and diamond-like carbon (DLC)--slid against each other, the graphene began rolling up to form hollow cylindrical "scrolls" that helped to practically eliminate friction. These so-called nanoscrolls represented a completely new mechanism for superlubricity, a state in which friction essentially disappears.
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Superlubricity is a highly desirable property. Considering that nearly one-third of every fuel tank is spent overcoming friction in automobiles, a material that can achieve superlubricity would greatly benefit industry and consumers alike. Such materials could also help increase the lifetime of countless mechanical components that wear down due to incessant friction.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @10:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @10:53AM (#212616)

    There's another factor to include in the flying cars side of things:

    humans have enough trouble dealing with the physics of surface bound vehicles, imagine the boy racers zipping around in the sky....

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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday July 23 2015, @05:48PM

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday July 23 2015, @05:48PM (#212777) Journal

    Reminds me of Treasure Planet. :-)

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"