Combined Effect of Chain Extension and Supramolecular Interactions on Rheological and Adhesive Properties of Acrylic Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

Poly(phenylalanine) and poly(3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine): Promising biomedical materials for building stimuli-responsive nanocarriers

Cancer is a serious threat to human health because of its high annual mortality rate. It has attracted significant attention in healthcare, and identifying effective strategies for the treatment and relief of cancer pain requires urgency. Drug delivery systems (DDSs) offer the advantages of excellent efficacy, low cost, and low toxicity for targeting drugs to tumor sites. In recent decades, copolymer carriers based on poly(phenylalanine) (PPhe) and poly(3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine) (PDopa) have been extensively investigated owing to their good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and controllable stimulus responsiveness, which have resulted in DDSs with loading and targeted delivery capabilities. In this review, we introduce the synthesis of PPhe and PDopa, highlighting the latest proposed synthetic routes and comparing the differences in drug delivery between PPhe and PDopa. Subsequently, we summarize the various applications of PPhe and PDopa in nanoscale-targeted DDSs, providing a comprehensive analysis of the drug release behavior based on different stimulus-responsive carriers using these two materials. In the end, we discuss the challenges and prospects of polypeptide-based DDSs in the field of cancer therapy, aiming to promote their further development to meet the growing demands for treatment.

Synthesis of Novel (Meth)acrylates with Variable Hydrogen Bond Interaction and Their Application in a Clear Viscoelastic Film

Clear viscoelastic films (CVFs) have many applications in the display industry. Acrylic monomers containing a hydrogen bond (H-monomer) are often used in the preparation of CVF to increase the cohesion and form favorable interactions with the display substrate. Common H-monomers face a counterbalance between the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the hydrogen-bonding association constant (Ka). Strong hydrogen bonding often leads to a high Tg and high modulus, which are unfavorable in certain applications such as foldable display. To solve these problems, four types of hydrogen-bonding (meth)acrylic monomers (carbamate acrylate, carbamate methacrylate, urea acrylate, and urea methacrylate) with different Ka and Tg were readily synthesized. Among them, urea acrylates displayed the highest Ka while still maintaining moderate Tg. These H-monomers were copolymerized with 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (EHA) and cross-linked to obtain a series of copolymers (H-copolymers) as pressure-sensitive adhesives. After the characterization of rheology, optics, and peel adhesion, urea-acrylic H-copolymers showed the best overall performance by combining great optical property (>98% in transmittance, < 1% in haze) and mechanical performance (8-12 N/25 mm in peel adhesion, 84-92% in creep recovery). This work provides a new path to prepare acrylic CVF for flexible display application.

Supramolecular Polymeric Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive That Can Be Directly Operated at Low Temperatures

Low-temperature adhesion is ubiquitous in daily life and industry. However, most supramolecular adhesives are thermoplastic materials that require heating during the adhesion. Herein, a supramolecular approach is used to construct unique pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) that can be directly operated at low temperatures (-60 °C). Supramolecular polymerization between phytic acid (PA) and water (H) endows poly(PA-H)s with excellent mechanical properties and low temperature adhesion capacity. Poly(PA-H)s can easily be processed into PSA tapes, pastes, and particles. Poly(PA-H)s were directly adhered to various surfaces by pressing at low temperatures (0 to -60 °C). No heating or high-temperature-induced solid-liquid transition was required for the low-temperature adhesion of poly(PA-H)s. With the help of structural water units in supramolecular polymers, poly(PA-H)s showed strong, stable, and organic solvent resistant adhesion performances at low temperatures, with adhesion strength of up to 3.61 MPa at -60 °C.

A Critical Approach to Polymer Dynamics in Supramolecular Polymers

Over the past few years, the concurrent (1) development of polymer synthesis and (2) introduction of new mathematical models for polymer dynamics have evolved the classical framework for polymer dynamics once established by Doi-Edwards/de Gennes. Although the analysis of supramolecular polymer dynamics based on linear rheology has improved a lot recently, there are a large number of insecurities behind the conclusions, which originate from the complexity of these novel systems. The interdependent effect of supramolecular entities (stickers) and chain dynamics can be overwhelming depending on the type and location of stickers as well as the architecture and chemistry of polymers. This Perspective illustrates these parameters and strives to determine what is still missing and has to be improved in the future works.

Reversibly Cross-linkable Bottlebrush Polymers as Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

Dynamically cross-linkable bottlebrush polymer adhesives were synthesized by the grafting-from strategy through a combination of ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and photoiniferter polymerization. A norbornene-containing trithiocarbonate was first polymerized by ROMP to form the bottlebrush polymer backbone; this was followed by blue-light-mediated photoiniferter polymerization of butyl acrylate initiated by the poly(trithiocarbonate) to form the bottlebrush polymer. This strategy afforded well-defined bottlebrush polymers with molar masses in excess of 11 000 kg/mol. For un-cross-linked bottlebrush polymers, 180° peel tests revealed a cohesive failure mode and showed similar peel strengths (∼30 g/mm) regardless of the backbone polymer degree of polymerization (DP). The bottlebrush polymers were then treated with butylamine to remove the trithiocarbonate, liberating thiols on each side-chain terminus. In the presence of oxygen, these thiols readily cross-linked via disulfide bond formation. The cross-linked bottlebrush polymers with a backbone DP of 400 showed a greater than sixfold improvement in peel strength, whereas those with a backbone DP of 100 exhibited a twofold enhancement compared with un-cross-linked samples along with a change to adhesive failure. Triphenylphosphine readily reduced the disulfide bonds, effectively removing all cross-links in the bottlebrush network and allowing for recasting of the adhesive, which showed similar adhesive and rheological properties to the original un-cross-linked samples.

Electric field mediated elastic contact lithography of thin viscoelastic films for miniaturized and multiscale patterns

Elastic contact lithography (ECL) and electric field lithography (EFL) have both shown significant potential to develop large-area micropatterns on polymeric surfaces. Recently, the major challenges associated with these processes have been the improvement of the aspect ratio and reduction in the size and periodicity of the patterns fabricated. Herein, with the help of non-linear simulations, we show that combining these methods can be one recipe to overcome these limitations. We consider a linear viscoelastic film for the linear and non-linear analyses. In this regard, we explore the role of the moving contactor to improve the aspect ratio of the patterns. The study uncovers that (i) combined destabilizing influences originating from van der Waals and electric field forces ensure smaller timescales and length scales for the instabilities, (ii) the aid from the electric field helps to improve the minimum separation distance so that the contact instability initiates at a larger separation distance, (iii) a long-range ordering can be inflicted on the patterns on the polymer surfaces when electrodes with periodic physicochemical patterns are used and (iv) the strength of the externally applied electric field and the ratio of elastic to viscous compliance of the film play crucial roles in deciding the different modes of debonding of the film - peeling, catastrophic or coalescence. The proposed method can improve the aspect ratio of patterns by ∼9-fold during the peeling mode of debonding. Furthermore, pathways to develop technologically important biomimetic surfaces with multiscale and hierarchical structures have been shown.

Bioinspired Underwater Adhesives by Using the Supramolecular Toolbox

Nature has developed protein-based adhesives whose underwater performance has attracted much research attention over the last few decades. The adhesive proteins are rich in catechols combined with amphiphilic and ionic features. This combination of features constitutes a supramolecular toolbox, to provide stimuli-responsive processing of the adhesive, to secure strong adhesion to a variety of surfaces, and to control the cohesive properties of the material. Here, the versatile interactions used in adhesives secreted by sandcastle worms and mussels are explored. These biological principles are then put in a broader perspective, and synthetic adhesive systems that are based on different types of supramolecular interactions are summarized. The variety and combinations of interactions that can be used in the design of new adhesive systems are highlighted.

Effects of multifunctional cross-linkers on rheology and adhesion of soft nanostructured materials

We investigate the nanostructure, the rheology and the adhesion of soft supramolecular materials elaborated by blending monofunctional and multifunctional poly(isobutene) (PIB) chains. Monofunctional PIB chains (PIBUT) are linear and unentangled polymer chains (M_n ≈ 3 kg mol^-1) functionalized in the middle by a bis-urea interacting moiety, able to self-associate by four hydrogen bonds. Covalent coupling of monofunctional PIB allows us to synthesize longer chains bearing two or three interacting moieties. These chains are then added to monofunctional PIB to prepare blends containing up to 10% of multifunctional PIB (M-PIBUT). The influence of M-PIBUT on the supramolecular nanostructure, which results from the self-assembly of stickers, is studied by Atomic Force Microscopy and Small Angle X-ray Scattering at room temperature. Multifunctional and monofunctional chains are shown to interact with each other to form bundles of rod-like aggregates. The consequences of these interactions on the rheology of the blends were studied by shear tests in the linear and non linear regimes, below and above the order-disorder transition temperature. A pronounced strengthening effect of M-PIBUT is observed at room temperature: the supramolecular blends become more elastic and are more resistant to creep with increasing concentration of M-PIBUT. The effects of M-PIBUT on the nanostructure and the rheology suggest that M-PIBUT, which can link with more than one supramolecular aggregate, plays the role of a physical cross-linker. The impact of these supramolecular cross-linkers on the adhesion of the blends is studied by probe-tack tests and discussed by analyzing the in situ deformation through the debonding images.