Behavior and mechanism of ultralow friction of basil seed gel

• We are the first to introduce basil seed gel in the lubrication/friction felid.
• A friction coefficient about 0.003 is obtained between basil seed gel and glass.
• The ultralow friction relies on the special characteristics of basil seed gel.

In the present work, a plant-based biomaterial named basil seed gel (BSG) is found to have an excellent lubricating property. The lubricating behavior of BSG is evaluated by a specifically designed apparatus without damaging its natural structure. An ultralow friction coefficient about 0.003 is obtained between BSG and the glass plate surface. Further characterizations reveal that the gel of basil seed has a three-dimensional network microstructure, which may provide a favorable condition for holding water molecules and forming hydration layers. The network constitutes of crosslinking polysaccharide sheets, which are easy to shear and easily adsorbed on the glass surface to form a stable nanoscale flat layer. A possible lubrication mechanism is employed that the easy-to-shear and easy-to-adsorb performance of BSG as well as the superior lubricating properties of hydration layer lead to the ultralow friction.

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