Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41651851›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Hierarchical picot-fiber hydrogel coating with ultralow friction and high wear resistance.

Wei Sun, Xiaoxiao Sun, Junsheng Zhang, Lin Wu, Juan Wang, Wei Wang, Yi Cao, Bin Xue

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Wei SunCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9179-1367
Xiaoxiao SunDepartment of Stomatology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Junsheng ZhangCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Lin WuCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Juan WangCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Wei WangCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. wangwei@nju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0001-5441-0302
Yi CaoCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. caoyi@nju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0003-1493-7868
Bin XueCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. xuebinnju@nju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-0822-6501

Funding

AI & AI for Science Project of Nanjing UniversityAnhui Provincial Natural Science FoundationChina Postdoctoral Science FoundationFundamental Research Funds for the Central UniversitiesInternational Joint Research Center for STEMJiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral TalentNanjing Municipal Science and Technology BureauNational Key R&D Program of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaResearch Project of Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hydrogel coatings are a promising strategy to reduce friction and wear in biomedical implants, yet replicating the durability of natural cartilage remains a key challenge due to the inherent trade-off between low friction and high wear resistance. Here, we present a picot-fiber hydrogel coating (PFHC) that mimics the hierarchical architecture of cartilage by integrating a lubricious surface layer with a tough, fiber-reinforced core layer. The picot fibers, formed by folded peptide strands with hidden loops, endow the core layer with efficient load-bearing capacity, while the loosely packed, open-structured top layer preserves hydration lubrication. The resulting PFHC achieves both ultralow friction (~0.009) and high wear resistance under long-term sliding over 100,000 cycles, comparable to natural cartilage. By decoupling lubrication and load-bearing functionalities across distinct structural layers, PFHC overcomes the conventional limitations of hydrogel coatings, providing a generalizable strategy to integrate lubrication and mechanical durability for reliable, long-lasting implant interfaces.

Indexed as

Coated Materials, BiocompatibleHydrogelsAnimalsFrictionLubricationMaterials TestingPeptidesProstheses and ImplantsSurface PropertiesCoated Materials, BiocompatibleHydrogelsPeptides

Identifiers

PMID41651851
PMCPMC12988206

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.