During the last few years, graphene's unusual friction and wear properties have been
demonstrated at nano to micro scales but its industrial tribological potential has not been
fully realized. The macroscopic wear resistance of one atom thick graphene coating is
reported by subjecting it to pin‐on‐disc type wear testing against most commonly used steel
against steel tribo‐pair. It is shown that when tested in hydrogen, a single layer of graphene
on steel can last for 6400 sliding cycles, while few‐layer graphene (3–4 layers) lasts for 47 …

AV Sumant and colleagues use graphene as an effective solid lubricant for rubbing steel
surfaces. On page 6640 the team demonstrates that just one atom thick graphene layer
dramatically suppresses both friction and wear of steel for thousands of sliding passes. This
extraordinary wear resistance of graphene is realized by in hydrogen atmosphere, which
passivates the defect sites and stabilizes graphene on the substrate.