Solution-sheared supramolecular oligomers with enhanced thermal resistance in interfacial adhesion and bulk cohesion
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Developing strong, thermally resistant adhesives for load-bearing applications remains challenging. Here we report a class of solution-sheared supramolecular oligomers that exhibit exceptional adhesive strength and toughness across a broad temperature range. These adhesives achieve a debonding work up to 23.6 kN/m and a lap shear strength exceeding 30.6 MPa, surpassing commercial structural adhesives by up to eightfold on metal and glass surfaces. Impressively, they retain a lap shear strength above 21 MPa even at 120 °C, outperforming current leading commercial alternatives. This performance arises from hierarchical nanostructures formed during solution shearing, which create enlarged, ordered nanocrystals and aligned nanofibrils within the bulk, enhancing mechanical robustness and toughness. Simultaneously, hydrogen-bonded nanocrystals anchored at the surface significantly strengthen interfacial adhesion. This multiscale structural organization enables thermal tolerance, crack resistance, and efficient energy dissipation, setting a new paradigm for high-performance, reusable adhesives capable of multiple rebonding cycles. Our work demonstrates how solution-shearing simultaneously optimizes adhesion chemistry and multiscale nano/microstructural control, achieving synergistic improvements in interfacial adhesion and bulk cohesion.
Date Issued
2025-08-20
Date Acceptance
2025-08-07
Citation
Nature Communications, 2025, 16 (1)
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
16
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40835617
PII: 10.1038/s41467-025-63123-9
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
7754
Date Publish Online
2025-08-20