Toughening elastomers using mussel-inspired iron-catechol complexes
Abstract
There is usually a trade-off between making a material stretchy, so that it can absorb energy on deformation, and making a material stiff, so that it does not extend very much when stretched. Mussels have long been an inspiration for developing adhesives that work when wet. Filippidi et al. produced an extensible polymeric material containing catechol groups whose mechanical properties were augmented when dry through the addition of iron ions (see the Perspective by Winey). The iron ions lead to sacrificial metal coordination bonds, creating a reversible load-bearing network that does not trade extensibility for stiffness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 27, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aao0350
Entities
People
- Claus D Eisenbach
- Emmanouela Filippidi
- J Herbert Waite
- Jacob Israelachvili
- Kollbe Ahn
- Megan T. Valentine
- Thomas R Cristiani
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Department of Energy
- University of California
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of Stuttgart