Underwater adhesion is technically challenging because the presence of water is considered the worst enemy for any glue. Now, scientists from Wageningen University & Research have developed an injectable adhesive able to bond to many different surfaces underwater.
Based on news that Wageningen University & Research published, Water drastically weakens the mechanical properties of an adhesive and prevents a good contact with the surface. This strongly limits the development of injectable adhesives for wet environments, such as the human body: the medical field, especially when regarding soft tissue repair and wound closure, would have much to gain from the development of glues that would replace patient and surgeon-unfriendly techniques such as suturing and stapling.
Inspired by nature
Pressure sensitive adhesives, like cellotape are well known. Despite working effectively on almost any dry surface, as soon as the surface gets wet its performance is greatly undermined. However, this challenge has been solved long time ago by many natural organisms, such as mussels and sandcastle worms. These underwater living animals are able to release a fluid phase underwater. This substance successively hardens due to a change in the environmental conditions (pH, ionic strength), enabling the organisms to attach to different kinds of surfaces. The natural glue is mainly composed of oppositely charged protein domains and stored in the form of complex coacervate, a fluid and water-immiscible phase. Researchers from the Wageningen Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter group have used these creatures as a source of inspiration for the development of a new glue that solves most of the challenges associated with underwater adhesion.
The adhesive is prepared by mixing aqueous solutions of oppositely charged polymers modified with thermosensitive units. The material, which is liquid-like at room temperature, turns immediately into a solid when the temperature is raised above 32 °C, when the thermoresponsive chains get together and collapse, making the adhesive much tougher.
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