Low-friction but superhydrophilic materials are urgently needed in biomedical and engineering fields because of their nonfouling property and biocompatibility, particularly when the surfaces are definitely superhydrophilic, such as metal or TiO 2 as the surface coatings of the intravascular stents. However, generally, there is a higher friction coefficient on the superhydrophilic surfaces than on the hydrophobic surfaces. On the basis of molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the friction on the superhydrophilic surface with appropriate charge patterns is evidently reduced, where the lower friction is similar to that of a rather hydrophobic surface with a contact angle of water droplet of ∼44°. This reduction is attributed to the existence of an ordered water monolayer on the superhydrophilic surface with appropriate charge patterns, and the friction between this ordered water monolayer and the water molecules above is small.
■ INTRODUCTIONThe nature of surface boundary friction, 1−14 related with the development of microfluidic and nanofluidic systems, 15−19 the surface lubrication and nanotribology, 3−7 and the motion of biological molecules, 20 has long been a subject of interest. One main challenge is how to effectively reduce the friction between materials and water, which is important in various applied fields, such as self-clearing materials with superhydrophobic porous nanostructures, 13 the biomedical materials, 7,9 and nanocoating materials of ships. 21 It is generally accepted that there is relatively low friction on hydrophobic surfaces but relatively high friction on hydrophilic or superhydrophilic surfaces. 15,22−26 However, hydrophobic materials are deficient in terms of biocompatibility and their nonfouling properties, which are exactly important for applications, such as the coatings of marine or ship surfaces to prevent fouling with nonspecific proteins. 9,21 Thus, when surfaces are definitely superhydrophilic, such as the TiO 2 27 or metal Ta 28 as the surface coatings of the intravascular stents, low-friction materials in merit of nonfouling are of urgent need in applications. 9 For example, implanted intravascular stents and catheters with high biocompatibility require low friction so they can be easily maneuvered within the patient's vasculature; 9,29 the surfaces coatings of marine or ship that can prevent the fouling with nonspecific proteins also require the low surface friction to save energy in the navigation of the ships. 21 In 2009, we predicted a unique wetting phenomenon with a water droplet on a water monolayer on a superhydrophilic surface with a water layer completely spreading over the surfaces with rather high surface water interactions at room temperature, which was termed an ordered water monolayer that does not completely wet water. 30−35 A similar phenomenon has also been observed on many real solid surfaces in experimental 27,36−38 or numerical studies. 39−41 However, whether this ordered water on the solid surface with charges results in friction reduction is still ...