Final Report Summary - HYDRATIONLUBE (Hydration lubrication: exploring a new paradigm)
This project was concerned with understanding, controlling and developing the new paradigm of Hydration Lubrication. This is a newly discovered mechanism whereby water molecules that form so-called hydration shells that surround ions in aqueous media act as extremely efficient lubrication elements. Efficient lubrication in water is of immense relevance in many technological and biomedical applications (such as in tissue engineering/regenerative medicine, lubricated devices including hip and knee implants,more comfortable soft contact lenses) as well as for understanding lubrication in biology where its efficient working is essential for healthy functioning of the body. The goals of the project included several different aims, from basic measurements of friction and lubrication at the molecular level intended to tease out the detailed mechanism by which hydration lubrication works, through the examination of different molecules and surfaces as suitable lubricating materials for situations of macroscopic and possibly practical relevance, including for lubricating biomedical devices (artificial implants, contact lenses, catheters) as well as possible clinical relevance. Most of the aims of the project were achieved, and deep new insights into the origins of hydration lubrication were obtained. At the same time, several practical manifestations of the lubrication effect were discovered, and led to the filing of a number of patents, and also to the securing of additional grants to help further with the technology transfer and commercialization of the ideas developed in the course of the project.