Unravelling the role of architecture in polymer-based glues for hydrogels
Author(s)
Angioletti-Uberti, Stefano
Xie, Kaiye
Molinari, Nicola
Chengcheng, Xiao
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We investigate polymers of different architectures as potential candidates for the development of glues for hydrogels. Using a combination of coarse-grained modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, we systematically characterize the link between experimentally tunable parameters and adhesion energy. We find that, for a broad set of parameters, adhesion is controlled almost exclusively by the total amount of glue at the interface and by the glue–hydrogel affinity. Instead, it is largely independent of changes in polymer architecture and size, a conclusion that shines new light on previously observed experimental trends. Additionally, we show that the scaling behavior of the properties we measure can be explained by modeling the glue as an ensemble of ideal, noninteracting, and linear polymer segments. We expect that the fundamental insights herein provided will aid the design of new polymer-based adhesives for hydrogels.
Date Issued
2021-09-08
Date Acceptance
2021-08-18
Citation
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2021, 13 (35), pp.42230-42239
ISSN
1944-8244
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
42230
End Page
42239
Journal / Book Title
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume
13
Issue
35
Copyright Statement
© 2021 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in [JournalTitle], after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c10785, see ACS Articles on Request https://pubs.acs.org/page/4authors/benefits/index.html#articles-request
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-08-27