Polyvinylamine-phenylboronic acid adhesion to cellulose hydrogel

Pairs of wet, regenerated cellulose films were laminated with polyvinylamine derivatized with phenylboronic acid (PVAm-PBA), and the forces required to delaminate the never-dried laminates were measured as functions of adhesive structure and application conditions. The greatest wet adhesion was obtained with 150 kDa PVAm, with 16% of the amines bearing phenylboronic moieties. The pH at which the PVAm-PBA was adsorbed onto the cellulose was the dominant process parameter. High adsorption pH gave high concentrations of adsorbed adhesive and the maximum adhesion. The specific role of the phenyl boronic groups was illustrated two ways: (a) replacing the B(OH)(2) with OH (i.e., phenol) gave much lower adhesion, and (b) wet adhesion was greatly reduced by the presence of sorbitol, which effectively competes with cellulose for boronate-binding sites.