Abstract

Limited by the nature of water, the narrow available range on temperature greatly hinders the application of hydrogels. Developing gel lubricants with high adaptability remains a major challenge. Benefiting from the intrinsic low freezing point and adaptability to harsh conditions, a eutectogel based on deep eutectic solvents is reported here. Systematic tribological tests confirmed that the eutectogel exhibited an exceptionally low friction coefficient (0.036), significantly enhanced load-bearing capacity and thermal stability, along with outstanding stability under varying friction conditions. The excellent lubrication performance arises from a synergistic effect of multiple mechanisms: shear-thinning of the network, formation of an adsorption film, and enhanced hydrogen bonding. A polyvinylpyrrolidone pretreatment is the key to suppressing the aggregation of MXene nanosheets through intermolecular interactions, enabling uniform nanomaterial dispersion within the gel matrix and thereby fully leveraging its lubrication performance. This strategy has been confirmed to be universally applicable across multiple eutectogel systems. The optimized eutectogel lubricant demonstrates a 94 % reduction in coefficient of friction and a 93 % decrease in wear volume, showcasing promising application prospects in the field of adaptive lubrication. This work provides a new insight for the development of high-performance, environmentally adaptive intelligent lubricating materials.

Published in TRIBOLOGY INTERNATIONAL，Volume217；10.1016/j.triboint.2025.111628，MAY 2026