Adhesives Inspired by Marine Organisms: Multifunctional Design and Application for Complex Wet/Underwater Environments
- 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihua University, Jilin 132013, China
- 2Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Wood Materials and Science, Jilin 132013, China
Abstract
Achieving strong adhesion in humid or underwater environments is a long-term challenge in materials science. Water molecules form a hydration layer on the substrate surface, blocking effective contact between the adhesive and the interface, leading to the failure of traditional adhesives. The wet adhesion strength of viscoelastic materials is due to the synergistic effect of interfacial chemical bonds and multiscale energy dissipation, but water environment can seriously interfere with this mechanism. In nature, mussels, barnacles, and sandcastle worms have evolved unique wet adhesion strategies: mussels achieve interfacial bonding through metal coordination and oxidative cross-linking of catechol groups; barnacle adopts a completely different “phase separation solidification” pathway, in which its gelatinous protein complex undergoes liquid–liquid phase separation to form a dilution-resistant coacervate that spreads with extremely low surface tension and displaces the interfacial hydration layer. Sandcastle worms use polyelectrolyte composite coagulation to bond mineral particles. Inspired by this, the synthetic pathways of biomimetic wet adhesives include the synthesis of peptides, modified polymers, and polydopamine systems, which have shown promising applications in wearable electronic devices, marine engineering restoration, and biomedical fields. This article systematically reviews the progress of biomimetic materials, providing reference for the rational design of high-performance adhesive materials.
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BibTeX
@article{chen2026adhesives,
title = {{Adhesives Inspired by Marine Organisms: Multifunctional Design and Application for Complex Wet/Underwater Environments}},
author = {Haonan Chen and Ningchuan Yang and Yanlin Chen and Yijun Liu and Jiuyin Pang and Xiaoyi Niu},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18202585},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2585},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adhesives Inspired by Marine Organisms: Multifunctional Design and Application for Complex Wet/Underwater Environments
AU - Haonan Chen
AU - Ningchuan Yang
AU - Yanlin Chen
AU - Yijun Liu
AU - Jiuyin Pang
AU - Xiaoyi Niu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18202585
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2585
AB - Achieving strong adhesion in humid or underwater environments is a long-term challenge in materials science. Water molecules form a hydration layer on the substrate surface, blocking effective contact between the adhesive and the interface, leading to the failure of traditional adhesives. The wet adhesion strength of viscoelastic materials is due to the synergistic effect of interfacial chemical bonds and multiscale energy dissipation, but water environment can seriously interfere with this mechanism. In nature, mussels, barnacles, and sandcastle worms have evolved unique wet adhesion strategies: mussels achieve interfacial bonding through metal coordination and oxidative cross-linking of catechol groups; barnacle adopts a completely different “phase separation solidification” pathway, in which its gelatinous protein complex undergoes liquid–liquid phase separation to form a dilution-resistant coacervate that spreads with extremely low surface tension and displaces the interfacial hydration layer. Sandcastle worms use polyelectrolyte composite coagulation to bond mineral particles. Inspired by this, the synthetic pathways of biomimetic wet adhesives include the synthesis of peptides, modified polymers, and polydopamine systems, which have shown promising applications in wearable electronic devices, marine engineering restoration, and biomedical fields. This article systematically reviews the progress of biomimetic materials, providing reference for the rational design of high-performance adhesive materials.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -