Composites One
Published

Researchers explore biomimetic approach for making adhesives tougher

A team from Purdue University takes inspiration from sea creatures to produce stronger adhesives with weaker bonds.

Share

 

Purdue University biomimetic approach to making adhesives tougher

Purdue University researchers added bonds that are broken easily throughout the material to strengthen the adhesive.  Source | Purdue University.

 

How do you make adhesives for electronics, vehicles and construction tougher? By making them weaker. That’s the proposed solution from a Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind., U.S.) research team — well-known for its adhesive technology.

“We have been using inspiration from sea creatures to develop several new adhesives,” says Jonathan Wilker, a Purdue professor of chemistry and materials engineering, who helps lead the research team. The Purdue team added bonds that are broken easily throughout the material. When pressure or stress is applied to the glue, these sacrificial bonds are designed to absorb energy and break apart. Meanwhile, the rest of the larger adhesive system remains intact. The Purdue team’s work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

 

Managing how energy moves in adhesives 

“The idea is somewhat similar to how a brick wall is made of bricks that are offset from each other,” says Wilker. “You stagger the bricks and cement so that a crack does not shoot right down through the cement lines. A crack hits the middle of a brick and the forces get spread out toward both sides, eventually decreasing to the point that the wall stays intact.”

Purdue University biomimetic approach to making adhesives tougher

Source | “Weak Bonds in a Biomimetic Adhesive …,” Journal of the American Chemical Society

“We added weak bonds within the adhesive so that mechanical forces and growing cracks lose energy by breaking these bonds instead of having the whole, larger material fracture. The idea is to manage how energy moves through the material. The overall adhesive system can become tougher and less likely to break apart when placed under mechanical stress.”

Wilker’s team tested this idea with several types of bonds. The ones that worked best were neither too weak nor too strong. He said that this technique for managing energy in adhesives might be a general phenomenon that could be applied to adhesives in industries ranging from consumer electronics to construction to manufacturing airplanes and automobiles.

 

Toxin-free adhesives

Oyster reef used in Purdue University research

Oyster reef in the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory. Source | Jonathan Wilker/Purdue University

The team has hundreds of mussels and oysters growing in its laboratory for studying proteins used by the sea creatures attaching to rocks. After working to understand the nature of these natural adhesives, the researchers then generate several synthetic versions with different properties.

They have worked to patent several of their toxin-free adhesive systems with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC). The researchers are looking for partners to continue developing their technology. For more information on licensing and other opportunities, contact Joseph Kasper of OTC at jrkasper@prf.org.

Read the paper abstract below.

 

 

 

Compression Molding
Composites One
Wickert Hydraulic Presses
Release agents and process chemical specialties
Ad showing Janicki CNC Mill machining part in tool
Park Aerospace Corp.
CompositesWorld
HEATCON Composite Systems
recycle carbon fiber
Airtech
ColorForm multi-component injection
Eliminate Quality Escapes  With LASERVISION AI

Related Content

Focus on Design

Carbon fiber, bionic design achieve peak performance in race-ready production vehicle

Porsche worked with Action Composites to design and manufacture an innovative carbon fiber safety cage option to lightweight one of its series race vehicles, built in a one-shot compression molding process.

Read More
Trends

TPI manufactures all-composite Kenworth SuperTruck 2 cab

Class 8 diesel truck, now with a 20% lighter cab, achieves 136% freight efficiency improvement.

Read More
Automotive

Automotive chassis components lighten up with composites

Composite and hybrid components reduce mass, increase functionality on electric and conventional passenger vehicles.

Read More
Hydrogen Storage

Composites end markets: Automotive (2024)

Recent trends in automotive composites include new materials and developments for battery electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell technologies, and recycled and bio-based materials.

Read More

Read Next

Sustainability

Plant tour: Daher Shap’in TechCenter and composites production plant, Saint-Aignan-de-Grandlieu, France

Co-located R&D and production advance OOA thermosets, thermoplastics, welding, recycling and digital technologies for faster processing and certification of lighter, more sustainable composites.

Read More
Repair

Developing bonded composite repair for ships, offshore units

Bureau Veritas and industry partners issue guidelines and pave the way for certification via StrengthBond Offshore project.

Read More
Glass Fibers

VIDEO: High-volume processing for fiberglass components

Cannon Ergos, a company specializing in high-ton presses and equipment for composites fabrication and plastics processing, displayed automotive and industrial components at CAMX 2024.

Read More
Release agents and process chemical specialties