Tribological behavior of shape-specific microplate-enriched synovial fluids on a linear two-axis tribometer

Agnese FRAGASSI; Antonietta GRECO; Martina DI FRANCESCO; Luca CESERACCIU; Aiman ABU AMMAR; Israel DVIR; Thomas Lee MOORE; Haytam KASEM; Paolo DECUZZI

doi:10.1007/s40544-023-0794-y

Friction 2024, 12(3): 539-553 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0794-y

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Open Access | Issue | Published: 04 December 2023

Tribological behavior of shape-specific microplate-enriched synovial fluids on a linear two-axis tribometer

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Agnese FRAGASSI^{¹^,²}, Antonietta GRECO^¹, Martina DI FRANCESCO^¹, Luca CESERACCIU^³, Aiman ABU AMMAR^⁴, Israel DVIR^⁵, Thomas Lee MOORE^¹, Haytam KASEM^{⁵^,^†}, Paolo DECUZZI^{¹^,^†}(

)

1 Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Precision Medicine, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova 16163, Italy

2 Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Genoa 16146, Italy

3 Materials Characterization Facility, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova 16163, Italy

4 Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9103501, Israel

5 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9103501, Israel

^† Haytam KASEM and Paolo DECUZZI contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:

tribology, synovial fluid, osteoarthritis, microparticles, pin on plate

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FRAGASSI A, GRECO A, DI FRANCESCO M, et al. Tribological behavior of shape-specific microplate-enriched synovial fluids on a linear two-axis tribometer. Friction, 2024, 12(3): 539-553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0794-y

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Abstract

Nano- and micro-particles are being increasingly used to tune interfacial frictional properties in diverse applications, from friction modifiers in industrial lubrication to enhanced biological fluids in human osteoarthritic joints. Here, we assessed the tribological properties of a simulated synovial fluid enriched with non-spherical, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microparticles (μPL) that have been previously demonstrated for the pharmacological management of osteoarthritis (OA). Three different μPL configurations were fabricated presenting a 20 μm × 20 μm square base and a thickness of 5 μm (thin, 5H μPL), 10 μm (10H μPL), and 20 μm (cubical, 20H μPL). After extensive morphological and physicochemical characterizations, the apparent Young’s modulus of the μPL was quantified under compressive loading returning an average value of ~ 6 kPa, independently of the particle morphology. Then, using a linear two-axis tribometer, the static (µ_s) and dynamic (µ_d) friction coefficients of the μPL-enriched simulated synovial fluid were determined in terms of particle configuration and concentration, varying from 0 (fluid only) to 6×10⁵ μPL/mL. The particle morphology had a modest influence on friction, possibly because the μPL were fully squeezed between two mating surfaces by a 5.8 N normal load realizing boundary-like lubrication conditions. Differently, friction was observed to depend on the dimensionless parameter Ω, defined as the ratio between the total volume of the μPL enriching the simulated synovial fluid and the volume of the fluid itself. Both coefficients of friction were documented to grow with Ω reaching a plateau of µ_s ~ 0.4 and µ_d ~ 0.15, already at Ω ~ 2×10^-3. Future investigations will have to systematically analyze the effect of sliding velocity, normal load, and rigidity of the mating surfaces to elucidate in full the tribological behavior of μPL in the context of osteoarthritis.

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Tribological behavior of shape-specific microplate-enriched synovial fluids on a linear two-axis tribometer

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Agnese FRAGASSI^{¹^,²}, Antonietta GRECO^¹, Martina DI FRANCESCO^¹, Luca CESERACCIU^³, Aiman ABU AMMAR^⁴, Israel DVIR^⁵, Thomas Lee MOORE^¹, Haytam KASEM^{⁵^,^†}, Paolo DECUZZI^{¹^,^†}(

)

1 Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Precision Medicine, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova 16163, Italy

2 Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Genoa 16146, Italy

3 Materials Characterization Facility, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova 16163, Italy

4 Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9103501, Israel

5 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9103501, Israel

^† Haytam KASEM and Paolo DECUZZI contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Keywords: tribology, synovial fluid, osteoarthritis, microparticles, pin on plate

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Publication history

Received: 18 June 2023

Accepted: 02 July 2023

Published: 04 December 2023

Issue date: March 2024

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Acknowledgements

Agnese FRAGASSI (A.F.) and Paolo DECUZZI (P.D.) acknowledge the partial support of the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project "Shaping the Mechano-Pharmacological properties of Microparticles and Extracellular Vesicles for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis–MEPHOS" with Grant agreement 872648. A.F. acknowledges the support of the Internationalization Program of the Jerusalem College of Engineering (JCE) for conducting research activities in the laboratories of Profs. Haytam KASEM and Aiman ABU AMMAR.

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