Abstract: An extremely low coefficient of friction can be achieved between biological interfaces,where biological lubricant plays an important role in the interfacial lubrication. Inspired by this,the design of bio-inspired lubricants and the study on the biomimetic lubrication mechanism have aroused widespread concern. This paper reviews the research progress of biomimetic polymer-based lubricants from two perspectives of structural bionics and functional bionics. In detail,the water-soluble polymers,polymer microgels,and polymer brushes modified composite microspheres are introduced respectively from aspects of design ideas,lubrication mechanism and applied research.