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Review: Friction and Lubrication with High Water Content Crosslinked Hydrogels

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Abstract

As soft aqueous hydrogels have moved from new materials to the basis for real engineered devices in the last 20 years, their surface friction and lubrication are emerging as critical aspects of their function. The flexibility to alter and augment their mechanical and surface properties through control of the crosslinked 3D polymer networks has produced materials with diverse surface behaviors, even with the relatively simple composition of a single monomer and crosslink chemistry. Correspondingly with new understandings of the bulk behavior of hydrogels has been the identification of the mechanisms that govern the lubricity and frictional response under dynamic sliding conditions. Here we review these efforts, closely examining and identifying the internal and external influences that drive tribological response in high water content crosslinked hydrogels. The roles of surface structure, elasticity, contact response, charge, water interaction and water flow are addressed here as well as current synthesis and testing methods. We also collect open questions as well as the future needs to fully understand and exploit the surface properties of hydrogels for sliding performance.

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The authors do not have original experimental data in this review. Thus this declaration is not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for all researchers in this field and their contributions. SZB, ACD, MMH, and JK were supported by the National Science Foundation awards 1563087 and 1751945. KDS and SM were supported by Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Professor Nicholas D. Spencer is the inspiration for this updated review.

Funding

Authors SZB, ACD, MMH, and JK acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards numbers 1563087 and 1751945. KDS and SM were supported by Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

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  1. Shabnam Z. Bonyadi, Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Jiho Kim, and Samsul Mahmood contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Shabnam Z. Bonyadi, Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Jiho Kim & Alison C. Dunn

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Samsul Mahmood & Kyle D. Schulze

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  1. Shabnam Z. Bonyadi
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  2. Md. Mahmudul Hasan
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ACD and KDS outlined this work, wrote, and edited. SZB, MMH, JK, and SM wrote, prepared figures, and edited.

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Correspondence to Alison C. Dunn.

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Bonyadi, S.Z., Hasan, M.M., Kim, J. et al. Review: Friction and Lubrication with High Water Content Crosslinked Hydrogels. Tribol Lett 68, 119 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-020-01352-3

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