Self-assembly of sustainable plant protein protofilaments into a hydrogel for ultra-low friction across length scales.

ABSTRACT: Designing plant protein-based aqueous lubricants can be of great potential to achieve sustainability objectives by capitalising on inherent functional groups without using synthetic chemicals; however, such a concept remains in its infancy. Here, we engineer a class of self-assembled sustainable materials by using plant-based protofilaments and their assembly within a biopolymeric hydrogel giving rise to a distinct patchy architecture. By leveraging physical interactions, this material offers superlubricity with friction coefficients of 0.004-to-0.00007 achieved under moderate-to-high (10²-to-10³ kPa) contact pressures. Multiscale experimental measurements combined with molecular dynamics simulations reveal an intriguing synergistic mechanism behind such ultra-low fri

SUBMITTER: Pabois O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11371639 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature