Dynamic Interfacial Adhesion through Cucurbit[n]uril Molecular Recognition.

Dynamic Interfacial Adhesion through Cucurbit[n]uril Molecular Recognition. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 Apr 16;: Authors: Liu J, Tan CSY, Scherman OA Abstract Supramolecular building block, such as cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n])-based host-guest complexes, have been extensively studied at the nano- and microscale as adhesion promoters. Herein, we exploit a new class of CB[n]-threaded highly-branched polyrotaxanes (HBP-CB[n]) as aqueous adhesives to macroscopically bond two wet surfaces, including biological tissue, through the formation of CB[8] heteroternary complexes. The dynamic nature of these complexes gives rise to adhesion with remarkable self-healing, displaying recovery and re-adhesion after mechanical failure at the interface. Incorporation of functional guests, such as azobenzene moieties, allows for stimuliactivated adhesion/de-adhesion on demand. Macroscopic interfacial adhesion through dynamic host-guest molecular recognition represents an innovative strategy, for designing the next generation of functional interfaces, biomedical devices, tissue adhesives and wound dressings. PMID: 29663607 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl Source Type: research