Graphene sheet lining
It may be possible to passivate some base materials by tacking on graphene sheets onto the surface.
The bonds found in sandwich compound may be usable here.
Especially for materials that are otherwise hard to passivate this may be a possible option.
Graphene sheet lining may be an option for bigger sized gears
where teeth are no longer single atoms but teeth instead already approximate evolvent or cycloid profiles.
See: Example crystolecules#Gears with bigger teeth made from multiple atoms
Feasibility
Warning! you are moving into more speculative areas.
At this point this is just a wild idea, it may or may not work. Or something in-between.
More detailed investigations will be necessary to tell.
The possible concerns are numerous and include at least:
- Can the tack-on density by high enough such that between the tack-ons there is not too low of a stiffness? (Nothing "crinkling" up froming gaps below?)
- Will a too dense tack-on pattern distort the graphenes electronic structure so much that it will become too reactive or even fully unstable?
- How well does the graphene conform to the underlying material?
- How much curvature is ok before localized kinks or too much change in electronic structure?
- How well can the graphene smooth out steps below in the underlying material?
- How bad is the variation in stiffness when crystallographic steps are covered at shallow angle?
- ... and so on and so forth ...
Choice of terminology
Here the "lining" part in the sense of pillow lining cushion lining ore rather more in the sense of brake lining a thin strongly connected layer to a stiff and hard background material just that here
- its meant to lower friction rather than increase it
- it's not a consumable bur wear free
