Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Recent investigations have pointed to physical entanglements that greatly outnumber chemical crosslinks as key sources of energy dissipation and low friction in hydrogel networks. Slide-ring gels are an emerging class of hydrogels described by their mobile crosslinks, which are formed by rings topologically constrained to slide along linear polymer chains within the network. These materials have enjoyed decades of study by polymer chemists but have been underexplored by the tribology community. In this work, we synthesized a pseudo-rotaxane crosslinker from poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-diacrylate) and α-cyclodextrin-acrylate followed by hydrogel networks by connecting the sliding crosslinks with polyacrylamide chains. The mechanical and tribological properties of slide-ring hydrogels were investigated using a custom-built microtribometer. Slide-ring hydrogels exhibit unique behavior compared to conventional covalently crosslinked polyacrylamide hydrogels and offer a vast design space for future investigations. Graphical Abstract
Source: Tribology Letters
Authors: Andrew R. Rhode, Iván Montes de Oca, Michael L. Chabinyc, Christopher M. Bates, Angela A. Pitenis
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Medicine
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,790
Awards: G1141670404, G2232042528, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UCSB, MIP: BioPolymers, Automated Cellular Infrastructure, Flow, and Integrated Chemistry: Materials Innovation Platform (BioPACIFIC MIP), Collaborative Research: DMREF: Multi-material digital light processing of functional polymers, G4281768896, G494560991, Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), G7425459533
OpenAlex ID: W4402997008