TY - JOUR AU - Yang, Xin AU - Wang, Yuqi AU - Zhang, Yanjing AU - Xu, Zizhou AU - Yang, Chaoyi AU - Ye, Jianwei AU - Zhu, Yizhan AU - Hu, Yulin AU - Guo, Shuaijun AU - Zhu, Shilei AU - Wang, Haihua AU - Ye, Ya Nan TI - Interfacially integrated Janus bilayer hydrogel for spatially decoupled wet adhesion and hydrated lubrication JO - Soft Science PY - 2026 VL - 6 IS - 4 SP - EP - 97 SN - ISSN 2769-5441 (Online) AB -

Wet biointerfaces require both robust interfacial adhesion and persistent surface hydration, yet these competing functions are difficult to reconcile within a homogeneous hydrogel network. Here, we develop a molecularly integrated Janus AP-HC bilayer hydrogel to spatially decouple these competing functions. In this architecture, a mechanically robust adhesive layer (AP) provides strong and reusable wet adhesion to diverse substrates, whereas the opposing hydrated lubricating layer (HC) provides durable lubrication and suppresses bioadhesion. The two functionally distinct layers are integrated through precursor infiltration and topological entanglement: the water-rich HC precursor locally swells the pre-equilibrated AP surface to promote macromolecular interdiffusion, followed by in situ Schiff-base crosslinking that stabilizes the interpenetrated chains and forms a continuous transition zone. The separately prepared AP-2 hydrogel exhibits a lap-shear strength of 154.6 ± 11.9 kPa on PVC substrates and retains 82.9% of its initial adhesion strength after 50 adhesion cycles. In contrast, the HC layer maintains stable low-friction lubrication under physiologically relevant conditions and effectively suppresses protein adsorption and cell adhesion. Meanwhile, the integrated AP-HC bilayer maintains interfacial and functional-layer stability under ultrasonic treatment and cyclic deformation. This spatial functional decoupling strategy provides a generalizable framework for engineering multifunctional wet biointerfaces for implantable devices and flexible bioelectronics.

KW - Janus hydrogel KW - wet adhesion KW - hydrated lubrication KW - interfacial integration KW - biointerface design DO - 10.20517/ss.2026.183 UR - https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ss.2026.183