Lipoic Acid-Derived Bioadhesive Prepared from Rapid Molecular Aggregation

The adhesives derived from the polymerization of α-Lipoic acid (LA) have received increasing attention, while the accompanying issues of conditional dependency and long polymerization cycles have attracted attention. The present study is based on supramolecular interactions between LA and LA-derivative molecules for rapidly preparing adhesives at room temperature without heating and for long durations. LA and the amino-modified LA-derivatives are found to aggregate quickly in H₂O for the formation of adhesives with strong interfacial adhesion, underwater adhesion, and wet adhesion. The molecular structure of LA-derivatives and the presence of metal ion chelation significantly affect the adhesion performance. Furthermore, a "Parasitism" strategy is proposed to prepare adhesive patches by integrating the LA/LA-derivatives interactions into polymer porous scaffolds. This rapid aggregation driven by supramolecular interactions between LA/LA-derivatives can be used to endow the non-adhesive materials with tissue adhesion without the need for complex chemical modifications, making LA-based adhesives preparation method easier, more universal, with scalability.