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Friction 2022, 10(1): 54-67 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-020-0389-9
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 21 October 2020

Fibers reinforced composite hydrogels with improved lubrication and load-bearing capacity

Show Author's Information Jiawei LI1,2,†,  Luyao GAO1,3,†,  Rongnian XU1,  Shuanhong MA1( ),  Zhengfeng MA1,  Yanhua LIU2,  Yang WU1( ),  Libang FENG2,  Meirong CAI1,  Feng ZHOU1
Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
School of Mechanical Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730050, China
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
lubrication, cartilage-inspired, fiber-enhanced, composite hydrogel, high strength, good toughness, load-bearing, wear-resistance
Cite this article:
LI J, GAO L, XU R, et al. Fibers reinforced composite hydrogels with improved lubrication and load-bearing capacity. Friction, 2022, 10(1): 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-020-0389-9
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Abstract Full text About this article

Hydrogels as one kind of soft materials with a typical three-dimensional (3D) hydrophilic network have been getting great attention in the field of biolubrication. However, traditional hydrogels commonly show poor tribology performance under high-load conditions because of their poor mechanical strength and toughness. Herein, pure chemical-crosslinking hydrogels mixed with different types of the micron-scale fibers can meet the requirements of strength and toughness for biolubrication materials, meanwhile the corresponding tribology performance improves significantly. In a typical case, three kinds of reinforcement matrix including needle-punched fibers, alginate fibers, and cottons are separately combined with Poly(n-vinyl pyrrolidone)-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PVP-PHEMA) hydrogels to prepare fibers reinforced composite hydrogels. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of fibers reinforced composite hydrogels improve greatly comparable with pure PVP-PHEMA hydrogels. Among three kinds of fibers reinforced composite hydrogel, the as-prepared composite hydrogels reinforced with needle-punched fibers possess the best strength, modulus, and anti-tearing properties. Friction tests indicate that the fibers reinforced composite hydrogels demonstrate stable water-lubrication performance comparable with pure PVP-PHEMA hydrogels. Besides, the hydrogel-spunlace fiber samples show the best load-bearing and anti-wear capacities. The improved tribology performance of the composite hydrogels is highly related to mechanical property and the interaction between the fibers and hydrogel network. Finally, spunlace fibers reinforced hydrogel materials with high load-bearing and low friction properties are expected to be used as novel biomimetic lubrication materials.


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About this article

Fibers reinforced composite hydrogels with improved lubrication and load-bearing capacity

Show Author's information Jiawei LI1,2,†, Luyao GAO1,3,†, Rongnian XU1, Shuanhong MA1( ), Zhengfeng MA1, Yanhua LIU2, Yang WU1( ), Libang FENG2, Meirong CAI1, Feng ZHOU1
Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
School of Mechanical Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730050, China
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Hydrogels as one kind of soft materials with a typical three-dimensional (3D) hydrophilic network have been getting great attention in the field of biolubrication. However, traditional hydrogels commonly show poor tribology performance under high-load conditions because of their poor mechanical strength and toughness. Herein, pure chemical-crosslinking hydrogels mixed with different types of the micron-scale fibers can meet the requirements of strength and toughness for biolubrication materials, meanwhile the corresponding tribology performance improves significantly. In a typical case, three kinds of reinforcement matrix including needle-punched fibers, alginate fibers, and cottons are separately combined with Poly(n-vinyl pyrrolidone)-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PVP-PHEMA) hydrogels to prepare fibers reinforced composite hydrogels. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of fibers reinforced composite hydrogels improve greatly comparable with pure PVP-PHEMA hydrogels. Among three kinds of fibers reinforced composite hydrogel, the as-prepared composite hydrogels reinforced with needle-punched fibers possess the best strength, modulus, and anti-tearing properties. Friction tests indicate that the fibers reinforced composite hydrogels demonstrate stable water-lubrication performance comparable with pure PVP-PHEMA hydrogels. Besides, the hydrogel-spunlace fiber samples show the best load-bearing and anti-wear capacities. The improved tribology performance of the composite hydrogels is highly related to mechanical property and the interaction between the fibers and hydrogel network. Finally, spunlace fibers reinforced hydrogel materials with high load-bearing and low friction properties are expected to be used as novel biomimetic lubrication materials.

Keywords: lubrication, cartilage-inspired, fiber-enhanced, composite hydrogel, high strength, good toughness, load-bearing, wear-resistance

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 19 January 2020
Revised: 15 March 2020
Accepted: 22 March 2020
Published: 21 October 2020
Issue date: January 2022

Copyright

© The author(s) 2020

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51705507, 51805514, and 51828302) and the Young Elite Scientists Sponsor Ship Program by China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) (2017QNRC0181), External Cooperation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (121B62KYSB20170009), and Key research projects of Frontier Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDY-SSWJSC013).

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