Hunan Key Laboratory of Biomedical Nanometer and Device, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou 412007, P. R. China.
School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
J Mater Chem B. 2023 May 31;11(21):4763-4775. doi: 10.1039/d3tb00364g.
The maintenance of high load-bearing tissues and joint lubrication is essential for suppressing osteoarthritis. The lubrication of natural joints is mainly attributed to the hydration lubrication mechanism of articular cartilage. Phospholipids on the cartilage surface attract water molecules to form a tough hydrated layer to reduce friction. In this work, inspired by the phosphatidylcholine lipids, we synthesized lubricated nanospheres by grafting hydrophilic polymer brushes and further synthesized a nanocomposite hydrogel. The addition of the lubricated nanospheres enhanced both the mechanical and lubricated properties of the hydrogel. The nanocomposite-lubricated hydrogel exhibited a friction coefficient 81.7% lower than the blank hydrogel because of grafting the polymer brushes. Also, the nanocomposite enhancement helped the hydrogel achieve high mechanical properties with a compressive strength of 6.63 MPa (50%). The nanocomposite hydrogel developed here could be a promising candidate material in bionic articular cartilage substitute materials.
维持高承载组织和关节润滑对于抑制骨关节炎至关重要。天然关节的润滑主要归因于关节软骨的水合润滑机制。软骨表面的磷脂吸引水分子形成坚韧的水合层以减少摩擦。在这项工作中，受磷脂酰胆碱脂质的启发，我们通过接枝亲水性聚合物刷合成了润滑纳米球，并进一步合成了纳米复合水凝胶。润滑纳米球的添加提高了水凝胶的力学和润滑性能。由于接枝了聚合物刷，纳米复合润滑水凝胶的摩擦系数比空白水凝胶低 81.7%。此外，纳米复合材料的增强有助于水凝胶实现高机械性能，抗压强度为 6.63 MPa（50%）。这里开发的纳米复合水凝胶可能是仿生关节软骨替代材料中有前途的候选材料。
