Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Adhesives

Polymer Gets Sticky When Hit With Light

Materials Science: Inspired by mussel proteins, the polymer could be a useful medical adhesive

by Melissae Fellet
January 17, 2013

Glue Cue
[+]Enlarge
Credit: Jin Nishida
Visible light (yellow bolt) triggers a new catechol-containing polymer to become adhesive when o-nitrobenzyl groups cleave themselves off the polymer’s catechol groups.
Schematic of a light-triggered adhesive polymer.
Credit: Jin Nishida
Visible light (yellow bolt) triggers a new catechol-containing polymer to become adhesive when o-nitrobenzyl groups cleave themselves off the polymer’s catechol groups.

Mussels secrete a protein that helps them stick to underwater surfaces like rock, metal, or wood. Chemists have designed sticky polymers that mimic this protein, but these materials quickly set when exposed to air. To get more control with these adhesives, researchers from Japan have developed a mussel-mimicking polymer that sets only when hit by light (ACS Macro Lett., DOI: 10.1021/mz300524q). The polymer could be used as an adhesive for biomedical devices such as stents, the researchers say.

Mussel adhesion proteins are sticky because of an unnatural amino acid called 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine, or L-DOPA. Oxygen in seawater oxidizes the catechol side chain of this amino acid, producing a benzoquinone group. Then lysines in the protein can attack the benzoquinone, connecting protein chains and forming a gel that attaches the bivalve to a surface.

Because catechol groups oxidize quickly, synthetic polymers that mimic the mussel proteins form a gel within minutes of being exposed to air. Atsushi Takahara, at Kyushu University, and his colleagues wanted to control the timing of gel formation. So they synthesized an acrylamide polymer containing catechols protected by o-nitrobenzyl groups to prevent oxidation. When hit with light, these nitrobenzyl groups cleave themselves off the catechol groups, allowing the polymer to be oxidized.

The new polymer set within 30 minutes after exposed to high-intensity visible light from a mercury-xenon lamp. To test the polymer’s adhesive strength, the team sandwiched the material between two glass plates, triggered gel formation with light, and then tried to pull the glass plates apart. The shear strength of the glue was similar to that of other commercial medical adhesives, such as ones used to seal cuts (Mater. Sci. Eng. C, DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2005.03.006).

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.