Exploration on Aqueous Lubrication of Polymeric Microgels between Titanium Alloy Contacts

Abstract

Since titanium alloys have been widely used as joint replacement biomaterials, their superficial lubrication has evolved to be a critical factor for normal use. For this purpose, one kind of typical microgel, poly­(NIPAAm-co-AA), was synthesized by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization and used as an aqueous lubricating additive between titanium alloy contacts. The results show that the as-synthesized microgels reduced the coefficient of friction by 46% and the wear volume by 45%, compared with pure water. Meanwhile, due to their thermosensitive property, the microgels were employed as smart additives to modulate the interfacial friction, which was attributed to the transition of the hydrated state and the elastic deformation of microgel particles. To further dissect the lubrication mechanism, it was found that the lubricating property of microgels was substantially associated with the formation of a hydrated layer surrounding microgels, microbearing effect, interfacial adsorption, and the colloidal stability. Looking beyond, as one kind of soft colloidal lubricant, the microgels may play an important role in the biomedical metal lubrication.

Preparation and Properties of Physical Gel on Medical Titanium Alloy Surface

“…However, a series of problems such as inflammation [1], biological poisoning [2], and bacterial infection [3] will occur after the implantation of medical titanium alloy into the human body; therefore, in the process of developing and utilizing biomedical titanium alloy materials, people have always focused on improving the biocompatibility and mechanical compatibility of TC4. By studying the mechanism of action between titanium alloy and human body fluids and soft tissues, people are constantly looking for polymer materials [4][5][6], small molecular materials [7,8], and trace elements [9] to modify the surface of titanium alloy. Currently, the commonly used modification methods include mechanical surface modification [10], physical surface modification [11][12][13], and chemical surface modification.…”

Outstanding Bio-Tribological Performance Induced by the Synergistic Effect of 2D Diamond Nanosheet Coating and Silk Fibroin

“…Lubrication strategies such as the surface modification of artificial implants − or the usage of fluid or hydrogel lubricants − ,− have already been investigated in the literature. However, the application of these methods has shown limited success related to the resulting friction and wear reduction.…”

Synergy of Hofmeister effect and ligand crosslinking enabled the facile fabrication of super-strong, pre-stretching-enhanced gelatin-based hydrogels

“…1 As a ''soft and wet'' material similar to the extracellular matrix, 2 hydrogels have good biocompatibility. They have been extensively studied in the fields of sensing, 3,4 actuation, 5,6 lubrication, [7][8][9][10][11] tissue engineering, 12 and drug loading. 13 In recent years, scientists have been working to develop stimulus-responsive hydrogels with high mechanical properties as candidate materials for soft robots or actuators.…”