Slow-release lubrication of artificial joints using self-healing polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene glycol/ graphene oxide hydrogel

New fabrication methods and lubrication materials must be developed to improve the lubrication performance of artificial joints and increase the lubrication duration. Herein, a novel polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene glycol/graphene oxide (PVA/PEG/GO) hydrogel was prepared by a physical cross-linking method, and then the hydrogel and its sustained-release solution were used as lubricant for friction evaluation. The results demonstrated that the slow-release gel solution has good lubrication performance, and coefficient of friction (COF) is only 0.04, which is much lower than the COF of distilled water (about 0.08) under the same conditions. The structure characterization results revealed that no new materials are formed in the gel. The results of thermogravimetric analyses and differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that the addition of GO may improve the network crosslinking structure of the PVA/PEG hydrogel and improve its mechanical strength . In addition, PVA/PEG/GO hydrogel has superior self-healing function. The self-healing hydrogel did not break again after being pulled under 200 G of weights. The PVA/PEG/GO hydrogel with excellent slow-release lubricating performance and self-healing properties provides a novel candidate for design of long-term lubricating artificial joints, and is expected to promote the progress of artificial joint lubrication applications.