Investigating the Effects of pH on Hydrogel Friction

Interns

Rachel Lee - Undeclared

Conor Pugsley - Chemistry

Ruby Cossio-Hernandez - Biological Sciences

Project Description

The average human blinks between 10,000 –20,000 times a day. The ocular tear film, an extremely thin, watery mucin-rich film, coats the surface of your cornea and acts as a low friction interface between your eye and eyelid, allowing you to blink pain-free all day. However, these mucin-rich layers are not just confined to your eyes but are found throughout the body coating all epithelial surfaces (e.g. ears, digestive tract, respiratory tract, etc...) and act as lubricating layers to reduce friction between sliding interfaces. Remarkably, their lubricating abilities are highly dependent on the pH of their surroundings. To mimic the behavior of these soft, slippery interfaces, synthetic materials called hydrogels are often used. In this project, we will be using pH to tune and control the friction of different hydrogels. You will learn how to synthesize these hydrogels and characterize and tune their frictional properties. You will learn the basics of tribology (the study of friction, wear, and lubrication of materials), hydrogels, and polymer synthesis. MATLAB (a coding software) will be used to process and calculate the friction coefficient of the hydrogels. This project will be a great fit for those who are interested in biology, chemistry, and materials characterization and for those who would like to understand how applicable and versatile materials engineering can be to a variety of fields!

Project Files