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Print/PDF Peptide-based water-soluble and transparent adhesive
Most adhesives involve various undesirable solvents or non-environment friendly elements. Other, more pleasant options often offer decreased adhesion between surfaces. Hence, bio-inspired peptide-based water-soluble adhesives could provide a favorable solution. Transparency, non-flammability and thermal stability of the material are additional key features attributed to this material.
We have developed simple synthetic peptides, with aromatic and hydrophilic moieties which induce interactions between molecules and to the surface. Water-based organic adhesives are desired for a range of applications, from paper related bonding to medical applications. We present a new simple material to meet the requirements for water-based, non-toxic, non-flammable, environment-friendly, and easy to clean adhesives. The material is transparent and stable between temperatures of -200 °C to 200 °C. This technique is relatively cost-effective, easy to manufacture, and have scalable production processes.
Technology description:
The peptide-based material is a biodegradable, transparent adhesive. Peptide powder is dissolved in water to form an aqueous solution, which has no distinct change in color or viscosity in comparison to water. This solution can be then applied between glass surfaces, which will associate due to capillary effects of the water. Once the water is evaporated, the peptide forms a thin layer of glass-like material between the two surfaces which adheres strongly to both surfaces. The evaporation rate of water can be dramatically accelerated by heating the sample. In our initial experiments, we heated the sample to up to 200 °C without significantly affecting the outcome. Adhesion values were measured in the range of up to ~ 3N / mm2. For these measurements two microscope slides were adhered by overlapping a 25 mm square with a layer of the 10 µl of the solution deposited in between and allowed to evaporate in room temperature. The thin film has no absorbance between 350-800 nm. Initial Refractive index measurements and the model we applied, suggest RI to be in the range of 1.55 at ~550 nm, with higher values at shorter wavelengths and as low as 1.535 at ~700 nm.
