Hydrogel surfaces are of great interest in applications ranging from cell scaffolds and transdermal drug-delivery patches to catheter coatings and contact lenses. In this work, we propose a method to control the surface structure of hydrogels, thereby tailoring their frictional properties. The method is based on oxygen inhibition of the free-radical polymerization reaction during synthesis and enables (i) control of friction over more than an order in magnitude and (ii) spatial control of friction as either a continuous gradient or a distinct pattern. The presented method has successfully been applied to acrylamide-, diacrylate- and methacrylate-based gels, illustrating the universality of the presented method, and its potential use in the above-mentioned applications.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

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通过在聚合过程中调节界面氧来控制凝胶的摩擦

水凝胶表面在从细胞支架和透皮给药贴片到导管涂层和隐形眼镜的各种应用中都引起了极大的兴趣。在这项工作中，我们提出了一种控制水凝胶表面结构的方法，从而调整它们的摩擦性能。该方法基于合成过程中自由基聚合反应的氧抑制作用，并且能够 (i) 控制超过一个数量级的摩擦和 (ii) 以连续梯度或不同模式对摩擦进行空间控制。所提出的方法已成功应用于丙烯酰胺、二丙烯酸酯和甲基丙烯酸酯基凝胶，说明了所提出方法的普遍性及其在上述应用中的潜在用途。

图形概要