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Published online 7 April 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.740
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Helping a micromachine to work
Vapour may solve lubrication problem in tiny devices.
A dilute gas may soon become the lubricant of choice for microscopic devices. The approach could pave the way for a new range of tiny machines, such as miniature turbines, that are finally capable of having sliding parts.
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Seems intuitive to use a proportionally less viscous lubricant for a smaller device. I expect a lot of people wished they'd thought of that! The piece is written using the words gas and vapour interchangeably when they are not the same thing. For example a gas will not liquefy with pressure whilst it is above its critical temperature. A vapour is below its critical temperature and will liquefy with an increase in pressure. It seems oxygen disobeys this at absurdly high pressures of the order of GPa, explain that!