Cartilage-bone inspired the construction of soft-hard composite material with excellent interfacial binding performance and low friction for artificial joints

Inspired by the cartilage-bone structure in natural joints,soft-hard integrated materials have received extensive attention,which are the most promising candidates for artificial joints due to their combination of excellent load-bearing properties and lubricating properties.The latest progress showed that the combination of hydrogel and titanium alloy can realize a bionic natural joint lubrication system on the surface of titanium alloy.However,obtaining a tough interface between the hydrogel(soft and wet)and the titanium substrate(hard and dry)is still a great challenge.Here,we designed a"soft(hydrogel)-hard(Ti6Al4V)"integrated material with outstanding combination,which simulates the structure and function of cartilage-bone in the natural joint.The load-bearing properties,binding performance,and tribological behaviors for different forms of the soft-hard integrated materials were investigated.The results showed that the hydrogel layer and Ti6Al4V substrate possess ultra-high interfacial toughness(3,900 J/m^(2)).In addition,the combination of the hydrogel layer and Ti6Al4V substrate provided a good lubrication system to endow the"soft(hydrogel)-hard(Ti6Al4V)"integrated material with high load-bearing and excellent tribological properties.Therefore,this study provided an effective strategy for prolonging the service life of Ti6Al4V in the biomedical field.