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Friction 2023, 11(12): 2329-2341 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0741-2
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 12 July 2023

Probing the intriguing frictional behavior of hydrogels during alternative sliding velocity cycles

Show Author's Information Yiming ZHAO1,  Gang YI2,  Jiuyu CUI1,  Ziqian ZHAO3,  Yonggan YAN1,  Luxing WEI1,  Jinlong SHAO4,5,  Hongbo ZENG3( ),  Jun HUANG1( )
Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture of Ministry of Education, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Shandong Key Laboratory of Advanced Organosilicon Materials and Technologies, Zibo 256401, China
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada
Department of Periodontology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University & Shandong Key Laboratory of Oral Tissue Regeneration, Jinan 250061, China
Shandong Engineering Laboratory for Dental Materials and Oral Tissue Regeneration, Jinan 250012, China
Keywords:
drag reduction, hydrogel friction, alternative sliding velocity, ultra-low friction coefficient
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ZHAO Y, YI G, CUI J, et al. Probing the intriguing frictional behavior of hydrogels during alternative sliding velocity cycles. Friction, 2023, 11(12): 2329-2341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0741-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Understanding the friction behavior of hydrogels is critical for the long-term stability of hydrogel-related bioengineering applications. Instead of maintaining a constant sliding velocity, the actual motion of bio-components (e.g., articular cartilage and cornea) often changes abruptly. Therefore, it is important to study the frictional properties of hydrogels serving under various sliding velocities. In this work, an unexpected low friction regime (friction coefficient μ < 10-4 at 1.05×10-3 rad/s) was observed when the polyacrylamide hydrogel was rotated against a glass substrate under alternative sliding velocity cycles. Interestingly, compared with the friction coefficients under constant sliding velocities, the measured μ decreased significantly when the sliding velocity changed abruptly from high speeds (e.g., 105 rad/s) to low speeds (e.g., 1.05×10-3 rad/s). In addition, μ exhibited a downswing trend at low speeds after experiencing more alternative sliding velocity cycles: the measured μ at 1.05 rad/s decreased from 2×10-2 to 3×10-3 after 10 friction cycles. It is found that the combined effect of hydration film and polymer network deformation determines the lubrication and drag reduction of hydrogels when the sliding velocity changes abruptly. The observed extremely low friction during alternative sliding velocity cycles can be applied to reduce friction at contacted interfaces. This work provides new insights into the fundamental understanding of the lubrication behaviors and mechanisms of hydrogels, with useful implications for the hydration lubrication related engineering applications such as artificial cartilage.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Probing the intriguing frictional behavior of hydrogels during alternative sliding velocity cycles

Show Author's information Yiming ZHAO1, Gang YI2, Jiuyu CUI1, Ziqian ZHAO3, Yonggan YAN1, Luxing WEI1, Jinlong SHAO4,5, Hongbo ZENG3( ), Jun HUANG1( )
Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture of Ministry of Education, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Mechanical Engineering Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Shandong Key Laboratory of Advanced Organosilicon Materials and Technologies, Zibo 256401, China
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada
Department of Periodontology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University & Shandong Key Laboratory of Oral Tissue Regeneration, Jinan 250061, China
Shandong Engineering Laboratory for Dental Materials and Oral Tissue Regeneration, Jinan 250012, China

Abstract

Understanding the friction behavior of hydrogels is critical for the long-term stability of hydrogel-related bioengineering applications. Instead of maintaining a constant sliding velocity, the actual motion of bio-components (e.g., articular cartilage and cornea) often changes abruptly. Therefore, it is important to study the frictional properties of hydrogels serving under various sliding velocities. In this work, an unexpected low friction regime (friction coefficient μ < 10-4 at 1.05×10-3 rad/s) was observed when the polyacrylamide hydrogel was rotated against a glass substrate under alternative sliding velocity cycles. Interestingly, compared with the friction coefficients under constant sliding velocities, the measured μ decreased significantly when the sliding velocity changed abruptly from high speeds (e.g., 105 rad/s) to low speeds (e.g., 1.05×10-3 rad/s). In addition, μ exhibited a downswing trend at low speeds after experiencing more alternative sliding velocity cycles: the measured μ at 1.05 rad/s decreased from 2×10-2 to 3×10-3 after 10 friction cycles. It is found that the combined effect of hydration film and polymer network deformation determines the lubrication and drag reduction of hydrogels when the sliding velocity changes abruptly. The observed extremely low friction during alternative sliding velocity cycles can be applied to reduce friction at contacted interfaces. This work provides new insights into the fundamental understanding of the lubrication behaviors and mechanisms of hydrogels, with useful implications for the hydration lubrication related engineering applications such as artificial cartilage.

Keywords: drag reduction, hydrogel friction, alternative sliding velocity, ultra-low friction coefficient

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Publication history

Received: 19 October 2022
Revised: 10 December 2022
Accepted: 12 January 2023
Published: 12 July 2023
Issue date: December 2023

Copyright

© The author(s) 2023.

Acknowledgements

TThis work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2020YQ38), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81901009 and 51905305), and Qilu Talented Young Scholar Program of Shandong University (J. Huang), and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs program (H. Zeng).

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