title: Surfactant-induced friction reduction for hydrogels in the boundary lubrication regime.
abstract: We studied the ability of surfactants to reduce friction by boundary lubrication for a bulk hydrogel sliding on a solid surface in an aqueous solution. A piece of negatively charged polyelectrolyte hydrogel was slid across solid surfaces with various levels of hydrophobicity, using a strain-controlled parallel-plate rheometer in water. A dramatic reduction in the sliding friction, especially in the low velocity region, was detected by the addition of a surfactant to the water medium. This friction reduction was only observed in gel-solid friction but not in solid-solid friction, indicating that the soft and wet nature of the gel surface was crucial for this surfactant-induced friction reduction. This phenomenon reveals that surfactants can remain at the gel-mated interface, thus preventing direct interfacial interaction between the sliding surfaces, and significantly decreasing the frictional stress. The reported dramatic reduction in friction highlights the frictional characteristics of soft and wet hydrogel materials.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamada
authors.forename: Hidemitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Taiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Jian Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D017276:Friction; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008153:Lubrication; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D011108:Polymers; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water