Poor surface wettability and relative high friction coefficients of pristine polyetheretherketone (PEEK) have limited its application in orthopedic implants. In this study, inspired by the structure of natural articular cartilage, we presented a novel method to fabricate a “soft-on-hard” structure on the surface of pristine PEEK specimens, which combined a soft polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel layer and a three-dimensional porous layer with PEEK substrates. A variety of analytical methods were used to evaluate their properties, our results demonstrated that the hydrogel layer could be seamlessly connected with substrate, and the hydrogel-covered PEEK owned a highly hydrophilic surface, a very low water contact angle of 7° could be obtained. The friction coefficients of untreated and hydrogel-covered PEEK surfaces were measured using a tribometer under water lubrication, due to the presence of the top hydrogel layer and the hard substrate could provide excellent aqueous lubrication and bearing capacity, respectively, the friction coefficient could be reduced from 0.292 to 0.021. In addition, the porous layer under PVA hydrogel layer could work as gel reservoirs, the reserved hydrogel would be released after the surface layer was sheared off, and a regenerable lubrication status was obtained. This work provides a new route for the design of improving the surface wettability and tribological properties of PEEK.

原始聚醚醚酮（PEEK）的较差的表面润湿性和相对较高的摩擦系数限制了其在整形外科植入物中的应用。在这项研究中，受天然关节软骨结构的启发，我们提出了一种在原始PEEK标本表面上制造“软-硬-硬”结构的新方法，该方法结合了软聚乙烯醇（PVA）水凝胶层和带有PEEK基材的三维多孔层。使用多种分析方法评估其性能，我们的结果表明，水凝胶层可以与基底无缝连接，并且水凝胶覆盖的PEEK具有高度亲水的表面，可以获得非常低的水接触角7° 。在水润滑下，使用摩擦计测量未处理的和覆盖有水凝胶的PEEK表面的摩擦系数，由于存在顶部水凝胶层和硬质底物可以分别提供出色的水性润滑和承载能力，因此可以降低摩擦系数从0.292到0.021。另外，PVA水凝胶层下面的多孔层可以起凝胶的作用，在剪切掉表层后释放出保留的水凝胶，从而获得可再生的润滑状态。这项工作为提高PEEK的表面润湿性和摩擦学性能提供了一条新途径。摩擦系数可以从0.292降低到0.021。另外，PVA水凝胶层下面的多孔层可以起凝胶的作用，在剪切掉表层后释放出保留的水凝胶，从而获得可再生的润滑状态。这项工作为提高PEEK的表面润湿性和摩擦学性能提供了一条新途径。摩擦系数可以从0.292降低到0.021。另外，PVA水凝胶层下面的多孔层可以起凝胶的作用，在剪切掉表层后释放出保留的水凝胶，从而获得可再生的润滑状态。这项工作为提高PEEK的表面润湿性和摩擦学性能提供了一条新途径。