Supramolecular Repair of Low-Friction Surfaces in Chem

Our manuscript on ‘Supramolecular Repair of Hydration Lubrication Surfaces’ has just been published in Chem.

We have shown that selective host–guest interactions can be exploited to assemble a monolayer of polymers on surfaces. The phosphorylcholine polymer structures attract water, giving a low-friction surface by virtue of ‘hydration lubrication’. The host–guest interaction acts as a weak link in the assembly, such that excessive mechanial wear causes reversible dissociation rather than irreversible covalent cleavage. The lubricating properties of the monolayer can then be restored as more polymer self-assembles on the surface and the weak links are reestablished.

Congratulations to our postdoc Yulong who led the work along with our fantastic collaborators in the Zhang, and Avestro groups.