Pabois, O., Dong, Y., Kampf, N. et al. (10 more authors) (2024) Self-assembly of sustainable plant protein protofilaments into a hydrogel for ultra-low friction across length scales. Communications Materials, 5. 158. ISSN 2662-4443
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 friction - where the uncoated areas of the protofilaments glue to the surface by hydrophobic interactions, whilst the hydrogel offers the hydration lubrication. The current approach establishes a robust platform towards unlocking an untapped potential of using plant protein-based building blocks across diverse applications where achieving superlubricity and environmental sustainability are key performance indicators.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | friction; superlubricity; molecular dynamic simulation; tribology; protofilament |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Food Science and Nutrition (Leeds) > FSN Colloids and Food Processing (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 890644 MRC (Medical Research Council) Not Known ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ES/X006565/1 EU - European Union 757993 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Sep 2024 07:56 |
Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2024 08:00 |
Published Version: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s43246-024-00590-5 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Portfolio |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s43246-024-00590-5 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216801 |