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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Superlubricity by glycerosome boundary layers

  • Yihui Dong1,2
  • Wei Cao3
  • Roman Kamyshinsky4
  • Nir Kampf1,4
  • Panpan Zhao1
  • Yaelle Schilt5
  • Uri Raviv5
  • Jacob Klein1
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
  2. 2School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
  3. 3State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
  4. 4Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
  5. 5Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
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Abstract

The search for high-performance lubricants is of broad relevance to biomedical applications, including artificial joints, regenerative scaffolds, and osteoarthritis therapies. Here we introduce glycerosomes—phosphatidylcholine (PC)-based vesicles containing glycerol—as a promising boundary lubricant. Using a surface force balance, we show that glycerosomes achieve a friction coefficient as low as 10−5 under a high compression pressure of 15.6 MPa, representing a 20-fold reduction compared to conventional PC liposomes. This level of lubrication surpasses any previously reported boundary lubricant system at such pressures in aqueous media. Mechanistically, glycerosomes exhibit substantially lower adhesion energy than PC liposomes, and theoretical simulations reveal enhanced vesicle stability and flexibility. Our findings establish glycerosomes as a superior hydration lubrication platform, with promising implications for both biomedical implants and industrial applications requiring robust lubricity.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{dong2026superlubricity,
  title = {{Superlubricity by glycerosome boundary layers}},
  author = {Yihui Dong and Wei Cao and Roman Kamyshinsky and Nir Kampf and Panpan Zhao and Yaelle Schilt and Uri Raviv and Jacob Klein},
  journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1073/pnas.2612273123},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2612273123},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Superlubricity by glycerosome boundary layers
AU  - Yihui Dong
AU  - Wei Cao
AU  - Roman Kamyshinsky
AU  - Nir Kampf
AU  - Panpan Zhao
AU  - Yaelle Schilt
AU  - Uri Raviv
AU  - Jacob Klein
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
JO  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO  - 10.1073/pnas.2612273123
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2612273123
AB  - The search for high-performance lubricants is of broad relevance to biomedical applications, including artificial joints, regenerative scaffolds, and osteoarthritis therapies. Here we introduce glycerosomes—phosphatidylcholine (PC)-based vesicles containing glycerol—as a promising boundary lubricant. Using a surface force balance, we show that glycerosomes achieve a friction coefficient as low as 10−5 under a high compression pressure of 15.6 MPa, representing a 20-fold reduction compared to conventional PC liposomes. This level of lubrication surpasses any previously reported boundary lubricant system at such pressures in aqueous media. Mechanistically, glycerosomes exhibit substantially lower adhesion energy than PC liposomes, and theoretical simulations reveal enhanced vesicle stability and flexibility. Our findings establish glycerosomes as a superior hydration lubrication platform, with promising implications for both biomedical implants and industrial applications requiring robust lubricity.
SN  - 0027-8424
SN  - 1091-6490
ER  -