Adaptable bio-based adhesives with robustness, durability, and multifunction enabled by low-molecular-weight...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Adhesion Science

Background:

• Developing adaptable adhesives for demanding environments is a significant challenge across various applications.
• Mussel adhesive proteins, known for their exceptional underwater adhesion, provide inspiration for novel adhesive designs.
• Bio-based adhesives offer sustainable alternatives to conventional synthetic adhesives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate self-adaptable bio-based adhesives (BIOAs) with enhanced performance characteristics.
• To leverage tea polyphenols (TPs) to improve the properties of camellia meal (CM) based adhesive systems.
• To create a robust and versatile adhesive inspired by natural mussel adhesive strategies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized low-molecule-weight tea polyphenols (TPs) to mediate camellia meal (CM) macromolecular systems.
• Fabricated self-adaptable bio-based adhesives (BIOAs) through a TP-mediated strategy.
• Evaluated adhesive performance, including strength, stability, and tolerance to harsh conditions.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-strength adhesion (up to 1.12 MPa on wood) under hydrothermal conditions (100 °C).
• Demonstrated long-term stability, retaining 0.88 MPa after 30 days of water immersion.
• Exhibited tolerance to diverse harsh environments (temperature, pH, salt, organic solvents) and resistance to mildew and flame.

Conclusions:

• The TP-mediated design creates a highly adaptable CM network with combined structural reliability and dynamicity.
• The developed BIOAs present a promising alternative to conventional adhesives, offering superior performance in complex scenarios.
• This strategy can be extended to other bio-based adhesive systems for enhanced adhesion properties.