Biomacromolecules
Biomacromolecules
5 years ago

Tunicate-Inspired Gallol Polymers for Underwater Adhesive: A Comparative Study of Catechol and Gallol

Tunicate-Inspired Gallol Polymers for Underwater Adhesive: A Comparative Study of Catechol and Gallol
Hirotaka Ejima, Naoko Yoshie, Kyungmo Sung, Chaehoon Kim, Kan Zhan
Man-made glues often fail to stick in wet environments because of hydration-induced softening and dissolution. The wound healing process of a tunicate inspired the synthesis of gallol-functionalized copolymers as underwater adhesive. Copolymers bearing three types of phenolic groups, namely, phenol, catechol, and gallol, were synthesized via the methoxymethyl protection/deprotection route. Surprisingly, the newly synthesized copolymers bearing gallol groups exhibited stronger adhesive performances (typically 7× stronger in water) than the widely used catechol-functionalized copolymers under all tested conditions (in air, water, seawater, or phosphate-buffered saline solution). The higher binding strength was ascribed to the tridentate-related interfacial interaction and chemical cross-linking. Moreover, gallol-functionalized copolymers adhered to all tested surfaces including plastic, glass, metal, and biological material. In seawater, the performance of gallol-functionalized copolymer even exceeds the commercially available isocyanate-based glue. The insights from this study are expected to help in the design of biomimetic materials containing gallol groups that may be utilized as potential bioadhesives and for other applications. The results from such a kind of comparable study among phenol, catechol, and gallol suggests that tridentate structure should be better than bidentate structure for bonding to the surface.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00921

DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00921

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.