Lubrication by charged polymers

Uri Raviv, Suzanne Giasson (), Nir Kampf, Jean-François Gohy, Robert Jérôme and Jacob Klein ()
Additional contact information
Uri Raviv: Weizmann Institute of Science
Suzanne Giasson: University of Montreal
Nir Kampf: Weizmann Institute of Science
Jean-François Gohy: University of Liège
Robert Jérôme: University of Liège
Jacob Klein: Weizmann Institute of Science

Nature, 2003, vol. 425, issue 6954, 163-165

Abstract: Abstract Long-ranged forces between surfaces in a liquid control effects from colloid stability1 to biolubrication2, and can be modified either by steric factors due to flexible polymers3, or by surface charge effects4. In particular, neutral polymer ‘brushes’ may lead to a massive reduction in sliding friction between the surfaces to which they are attached5,6,7, whereas hydrated ions can act as extremely efficient lubricants between sliding charged surfaces8. Here we show that brushes of charged polymers (polyelectrolytes) attached to surfaces rubbing across an aqueous medium result in superior lubrication compared to other polymeric surfactants. Effective friction coefficients with polyelectrolyte brushes in water are lower than about 0.0006–0.001 even at low sliding velocities and at pressures of up to several atmospheres (typical of those in living systems). We attribute this to the exceptional resistance to mutual interpenetration displayed by the compressed, counterion-swollen brushes, together with the fluidity of the hydration layers surrounding the charged, rubbing polymer segments. Our findings may have implications for biolubrication effects, which are important in the design of lubricated surfaces in artificial implants, and in understanding frictional processes in biological systems.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01970 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:425:y:2003:i:6954:d:10.1038_nature01970

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01970

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().