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Multifunctional Underwater Adhesive Film Enabled by a Single-Component Poly(ionic liquid).
Binmin Wang1, Chenyu Qiao2, Yong-Lei Wang3,4
1Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials (Ministry of Education), Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China.
ACS Nano
|March 17, 2023
Summary
A novel poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) demonstrates strong underwater adhesion and impressive sound absorption. This versatile synthetic wet adhesive offers robust performance on various surfaces, overcoming key material challenges.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Developing synthetic wet adhesives for real-world applications faces challenges in cost, robustness, and multifunctionality.
- Existing wet adhesives often struggle with performance degradation in aqueous environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a low-cost, robust, and multifunctional wet adhesive material.
- To investigate the underwater adhesion capabilities and mechanisms of a single-component poly(ionic liquid) (PIL).
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a single-component poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) adhesive film.
- Surface force measurements to quantify adhesion on diverse substrates in aqueous media.
- Analysis of adhesion mechanisms through non-covalent interaction studies.
- Evaluation of underwater sound absorption properties.
Main Results:
- The PIL adhesive film exhibited fast (∼30 s) and robust underwater adhesion (56.7 mN·m⁻¹) on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates.
- Adhesion was attributed to a synergistic combination of hydrogen bonding, cation-π, electrostatic, and van der Waals interactions.
- The PIL film demonstrated significant underwater sound absorption (0.80–0.92 coefficient for 4–30 kHz sound waves).
Conclusions:
- A multifunctional poly(ionic liquid) wet adhesive was successfully developed.
- The PIL exhibits excellent stretchability, flexibility, and adhesion under challenging wet conditions.
- This research provides insights into wet adhesion mechanisms and highlights the potential of PILs in diverse applications, including sound absorption.
