Aqueous Lubrication

Natural and Biomimetic Approaches

Man lubricates mostly with oil. Nature lubricates exclusively with water. Pure water is a poor lubricant, but the addition of proteins, especially glycoproteins, can modify surfaces to make them far more lubricating at slow speeds. Understanding how nature does this, and the physical structures involved, is not only important for the understanding of diseases such as osteoarthritis, but also essential for the successful application of articulating implants, such as hips and knees, as well as the development of medical devices such as catheters and contact lenses. A host of important applications of water-based lubrication are already in place in the personal care and food industries, and further industrial applications of water-based lubrication could have a significant positive impact on the environment.

This book is the first of its kind. It brings together the latest research in biological and biomimetic, water-based lubrication and is authored by the world's experts in the field.

Contents:

• Tribology of Natural Articular Joints (Rowena Crockett)
• Sticky and Slippery: Interfacial Forces of Mucin and Mucus Gels (Seunghwan Lee)
• Aqueous Lubrication and Food Emulsions (Jason R Stokes)
• Aqueous Lubrication in Cosmetics (Gustavo S Luengo, Anthony Galliano and Claude Dubief)
• Hydrogel Friction and Lubrication (Jian Liu and Jian Ping Gong)
• Aqueous Lubrication with Polymer Brushes (Suzanne Giasson and Nicholas D Spencer)
• Water-Like Lubrication of Hard Contacts by Polyhydric Alcohols (Jean Michel Martin and Maria Isabel De Barros-Bouchet)
• Aqueous Lubrication of Ceramics (Mitjan Kalin)

Readership: Academic and industrial tribologists, materials scientists, biomechanics professionals, and physicists and chemists with an interest in tribology.