In nature, most sliding occurs on soft, lubricious surfaces. The soft materials are often gel-like, i.e. porous and filled with fluid, and the lubricious surfaces often bear a resemblance to polymer brushes—also, by definition, filled with fluid. Systems such as these can thus be readily imitated with polymers, and conveniently characterized as to their tribological and mechanical properties by means of atomic force microscopy, as well as micro- and macro-scale characterization tools. The tribological behavior of both the natural and the artificial systems is quite distinct from that of traditional engineering materials, due to both viscoelastic and poroelastic effects, the latter being highly dependent on the rheological properties of the enclosed fluid. Of particular interest is the nanoscale surface mechanical behavior of a brush or a gel, and this presents particular difficulties as far as characterization is concerned. Such issues have been investigated extensively in our laboratory, and a number of generally applicable solutions will be presented.

Pressing and sliding on gels and brushes

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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