High-performance dopamine-based supramolecular bio-adhesives
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The need for wound closure or surgical procedures has been commonly met by the application of sutures. Unfortunately, these are often invasive or subject to contamination. Alternative solutions are offered by surgical adhesives that can be applied and set without major disruption; a new class of supramolecular-based adhesives provides potential solutions to some of these challenges. In this study, a series of polymers utilizing dopamine as a self-assembling unit are synthesized. It is found that these motifs act as extremely effective adhesives, with control over the mechanical strength of the adhesion and materials’ tensile properties enabled by changing monomer feed ratios and levels of cross-linking. These materials significantly outperform commercially available bio-adhesives, showing yield strengths after adhesion at least two times higher than that of BioGlue and Tisseel, as well as the ability to re-adhere with significant recovery of adhesion strength. Promisingly, the materials are shown to be non-cytotoxic, with cell viability > 90%, and able to perform in aqueous environments without significant loss in strength. Finally, the removal of the materials, is possible using benign organic solvents such as ethanol. These properties all demonstrate the effectiveness of the materials as potential bio-adhesives, with potential advantages for use in surgery.
Date Issued
2024-12
Date Acceptance
2024-05-14
Citation
Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2024, 45 (23)
ISSN
1022-1336
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
Macromolecular Rapid Communications
Volume
45
Issue
23
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Macromolecular Rapid Communications published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/marc.202400345
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2400345
Date Publish Online
2024-05-17