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Article

Reversible Mussel-Inspired Adhesive from Strong and Tough Dynamic Covalent Crosslinking Polymer

by
Zi-Han Zhao
1,2,*,
Qikun Li
3,
Yingpeng Zhou
1,
Yinghong Zeng
1,
Dandan Yang
1 and
Jiajun Fu
1,*
1
School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
2
State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
3
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Adelaide, 370 Docklands Drive, Melbourne, VIC 3008, Australia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Chemistry 2025, 7(6), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry7060186
Submission received: 30 October 2025 / Revised: 14 November 2025 / Accepted: 21 November 2025 / Published: 24 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Development of Supramolecular Self-Healing Polymers Driven by Non-Covalent Interactions)
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Abstract

Adhesives represent an unparalleled material because of their wide utilization in various fields. However, reversible adhesives with recyclability or reprocessability are unexploited yet necessary in practical applications. Mussel-inspired chemistry is a powerful tool for the development of reversible adhesives owing to its multiple dynamic molecular-scale interactions. Here, we design and synthesize a mussel-inspired reversible adhesive with tough mechanical properties and great energy dissipation ability using a dynamic covalent crosslinking network. The mussel structure-based adhesive exhibits excellent adhesion strength and toughness due to the formed B–O bonds, coordination, and hydrogen interactions between substrates. Meanwhile, the dynamic boronic ester bonds endow the polymer with recyclability and debonding–rebonding capacity to satisfy the stable cyclic use of the materials, providing a sustainable adhesive for multi-bonding fields.

1. Introduction

Adhesive is a prevalent part of our daily life and production, which can effectively connect different substrate materials together [1,2,3,4]. Because of the excellent adaptability and energy dissipation capacity, synthetic polymeric adhesives have drawn great attention in multiple application fields, such as mechanical engineering, marine operations, flexible electronics, and intelligent sensors [5,6,7,8,9]. However, disposable usage and irreversible adhesion of the adhesives crosslinked by robust covalent bonds often lead to material waste, high production costs, and environmental pollution. Developing reversible adhesives with recyclability or reprocessability is an optimization strategy to resolve the issues.
Marine mussel is a star creature of nature due to its outstanding adhesive property derived from the foot proteins [10,11,12]. The adhesion proteins can form various bonding interactions (such as dynamic cation–π, hydrophobic, electrostatic, and coordination interactions) between substrates. Therefore, mussel generally demonstrates strong, tough, and reversible adhesion on different materials, especially under wet conditions [13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Increasingly more adhesives inspired by the structure of mussel foot proteins (mfps) have been widely synthesized and reported [20,21,22]. Particularly, large amounts of 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine (DOPA), which exist in mfp-5, contribute to the backbone strength in the adhesion process because of the formed coordination and hydrogen bonding on adhesion surfaces [11,23,24,25]. A series of adhesives inspired by catechol-based chemistry has been studied. However, the structures are susceptible to unwanted oxidation, subsequently resulting in irreversible crosslinking and a significant decline in long-term bonding stability [26,27,28,29,30]. Furthermore, many systems that leverage catechol-mediated coordination or supramolecular crosslinks often fail to achieve the optimal balance between cohesion and adhesion. They frequently exhibit either strong but brittle interfaces or soft and weak bulk properties, lacking the energy-dissipating mechanisms necessary for high toughness. Consequently, proposing a strategy to fabricate reversible adhesives with both strong, tough mechanical strength and high adhesion performance is necessary for broadening the practical applications of bioinspired adhesives.
Dynamic covalent boronic ester chemistry is typical and important in preparing strong functional materials thanks to the high bond energy (809 kJ/mol) and various reversible exchange behaviors of B–O bonds [31,32,33,34]. Generally, the kinetics of boronic ester bonds are available via transesterification, hydrolysis-dehydration, and direct metathesis, providing an effective method to develop reversible materials [35]. Recently, the dynamic covalent boronic ester crosslinking network has been utilized to fabricate multi-purpose polymers, such as responsive materials, biomedical materials, and adhesives [36,37,38,39,40,41]. Based on the stability and high tunability of boron compounds, combining the mussel-inspired chemistry and dynamic boronic ester bonds is expected to realize reversible adhesives with strong, tough mechanical properties and recyclability.
Herein, we report the design of a novel copolymer adhesive employing boronic ester bonds as reversible covalent crosslinks, strategically integrated with mussel-inspired catechol motifs (Figure 1a). The dynamic nature of boronic ester bonds, which can undergo reversible dissociation and reformation, is anticipated to introduce efficient energy-dissipation pathways, thereby significantly enhancing the stiffness and toughness and enabling the recyclability of polymers. Simultaneously, the dissociated boronic acid and diol groups, together with the polymer skeleton, can form B–O bonds, coordination, and hydrogen interactions on various materials, which ensure the versatile, strong, and reversible interfacial adhesion to substrates (Figure 1b,c). As a result, the mussel-inspired adhesive based on the dynamic boronic ester crosslinking network offers a promising pathway to overcome the limitations of mechanical properties and adhesion ability of materials and opens up a new method to synthesize strong, tough, and reversible adhesives.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Materials

Methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), 3-butene-1,2-diol (BD), benzene-1,4-diboronic acid (BDA), and azodiisobutyronitrile (AIBN) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Toluene and hexane were purchased from Nanjing Reagents Co. Ltd. (AR grade, Nanjing, China).

2.2. Synthesis of the Adhesive

The synthesis route of the adhesive is shown in Scheme 1. To a nitrogen-purged 200 mL flask, 0.35 g of BD (4.00 mmol), 4.55 g of BA (35.5 mmol), 3.95 g of MMA (39.5 mmol), and 100 mg of AIBN (0.61 mmol) were added to 80 mL of toluene. The solution was placed in an oil bath at 78 °C and stirred for 24 h. Then, 0.33 g of BDA (2.00 mmol) in 10 mL of DMF solution was added to the reaction system. The solution was further stirred for 6 h under heating. After cooling down to room temperature, the solution was reduced in volume to around 30 mL by rotary evaporation under reduced pressure and precipitated by pouring into 0 °C hexane. The precipitate was collected and dried under vacuum to yield a pale-yellow solid.

2.3. General Characterization

NMR (500 MHz) spectra were recorded on a Bruker DRX 500 NMR spectrometer (Billerica, MA, USA) in deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide at 25 °C. Chemical shifts are reported in ppm relative to tetramethylsilane as an internal standard (1H). FT-IR spectra were recorded with a Bruker Tensor 27 Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (Billerica, MA, USA). Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) data were obtained on a PerkinElmer TA 2100-SDT 2960 (Eden Prairie, MN, USA) ranging from 50 to 600 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C/min under a N2 atmosphere. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were performed using the DSC apparatus of Mettler-Toledo (Zurich, Switzerland) under a dry nitrogen atmosphere (80 mL/min). Temperature and enthalpy calibrations were performed before the experiments using zinc and indium standards. The temperature range was from −20 to 100 °C, with a heating and cooling speed of 10 °C/min. Scanning electron microscopy was performed with a field emission electron microscope (Tokyo, Japan) under an acceleration voltage of 5 kV for morphological observations. Atomic force microscopy was carried out on a Bruker Bio-FastScan AFM using silicon tips (OMCLAC160TS-R3, Olympus, Billerica, MA, USA) in the PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical property mapping mode. The rheological measurements were carried out on a TA DHR-2 Rheometer (Eden Prairie, MN, USA). The dynamic mechanical behavior was obtained using a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA, TA Q800, Eden Prairie, MN, USA).
Tensile testing procedure: The bulk static tensile properties of polymer samples were measured using an Instron 3365 instrument (Billerica, MA, USA) with different pulling rates (from 2 to 20 mm/min). Sample dimensions were measured (length, width, thickness: 10.0 × 4.0 × 0.10 mm) and the sample was pulled at ambient temperature until break. Values of Young’s modulus, maximal strength, breaking strains, and toughness are presented as the means ± standard deviation according to the data from at least three trials.
Rheological tests: Rheology was performed on a TA DHR-2 Rheometer, with a 20 mm standard steel parallel plate. The gap distance was fixed at 1 mm. Both the storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) were recorded. The contact force with the sample was maintained by the auto-compression feature set to 0.20 ± 0.15 N. Temperature sweeps were run from 30 to 120 °C at a rate of 5 °C/min and a frequency of 1 Hz, and the strain was automatically modulated at 0.10 ± 0.02% by the instrument to keep the measured torque at a reasonable value as the sample softened. Frequency sweeps were performed from 0.01 to 628 rad/s with a constant 0.1% strain amplitude at room temperature.
Reprocessing tests: The samples were cut completely into fragments and then placed into a rectangular mold under a hot press for 10 min to reform the bulk materials. After that, the polymers were cooled to room temperature to obtain the recycled samples for further measurements.
Adhesion test: The adhesion strength was evaluated with lap shear testing experiments which were performed using an Instron 3343 instrument (Billerica, MA, USA) at a constant speed of 10 mm/min. The value of the work of debonding was obtained from the integrated area under the force-versus-extension curve.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Synthesis and Characterization of the Adhesive

The reversible adhesive (denoted as PBO) was synthesized via a two-step procedure as shown in Scheme 1. In the first step, a copolymer was prepared through the polymerization of monomers BA and MMA with ester groups and the monomer BD with a diol group. The signals of C=C bonds at about 4.5–5.5 ppm disappeared in the 1H NMR spectrum of PBO, and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra showed that the stretch absorption band of C=C bonds in monomers at 1634 cm−1 disappeared after reaction, illustrating the successful copolymerization (Figure 2a and Figure S1). The molecular weight of PBO (Mw = 82,880 g mol−1, Mn = 63,990 g mol−1; molecular dispersity Ð = 1.29) was measured through gel permeation chromatography (GPC, Figure S2). Subsequently, the incorporation of BDA serves as the linkage to crosslink copolymers by forming boronic ester bonds with diol groups. As illustrated in Figure 2a, the absorption band of B–O bonds at about 1394 cm−1 demonstrates the successful formation of boronic ester bonds. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterization reveals a smooth sample surface with minimal surface irregularities (depressions/protrusions) (Figure S3). Meanwhile, the atomic force microscope (AFM) image of PBO further illustrates the uniform and smooth surface with small holes, yet without phase-separation of the polymer (Figure 2b and Figure S4). The thermal stability of the polymer was further investigated via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The TGA curve of PBO in Figure 2c clearly shows that no decomposition occurred below 320 °C, indicating the outstanding thermal stability of the material. Meanwhile, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer is calculated to be 5 °C, indicating the good chain mobility of the adhesive at room temperature, which establishes the foundation for the dynamic recyclability and reversibility of the adhesive (Figure 2d).

3.2. Mechanical Property of the Adhesive PBO

The mechanical property of the obtained adhesive polymer crosslinked by boronic ester bonds was studied under ambient conditions via uniaxial tensile measurements and dynamic rheological tests. As illustrated in Figure 3a and Table 1, the tensile strength increases and the elongation decreases when the strain rate increases from 20 to 200 mm/min. PBO exhibits outstanding mechanical properties with a maximum tensile strength of 5.15 ± 0.06 MPa, maximum strain of 930 ± 10%, and maximum toughness of 24.30 ± 0.14 MJ/cm3. The Young’s modulus of the polymer reaches up to 40.68 ± 0.32 MPa under a tensile rate of 20 mm/min. Significantly, the strain-hardening stage of PBO is obvious and extended after the yielding stage, demonstrating the superior toughening and energy dissipation capacity of the dynamic covalent crosslinking network.
The systematic rheological measurements of PBO were further evaluated with a rotational rheometer. According to the oscillatory temperature sweeps of the polymer in Figure 3b, the storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) are both as high as 10 MPa at room temperature. The moduli gradually decreased with the temperature increasing, and remained consistent during the heating and cooling sweeps. Meanwhile, G′ and G″ are essentially overlapping from 20 to 80 °C, indicating that the mechanical property of PBO is dominated by viscoelasticity at a wide temperature range. The loss factor tanδ is higher than 1.0 around room temperature, which indicates the excellent energy dissipation and damping abilities of the covalent crosslinking polymer. The frequency sweep on DMA at room temperature demonstrated the higher loss modulus of PBO (Figure S5). Similarly, the frequency sweeps via rheological measurement also illustrated the viscoelasticity of PBO at ambient conditions and the temperature-induced moduli reduction (Figure 3c). In addition, the master curve of the dynamic polymer based on the time–temperature superposition principle was recorded and is plotted at the reference temperature of 20 °C, which showed multiple transition behaviors of viscoelastic materials. Notably, G′ and G″ of the polymer were quite close and the moduli presented a power-law frequency dependence, demonstrating the dominant sticky Rouse motion of entangled strands in networks. At low frequencies, the liquid-like polymers exhibited higher G″ and active frictional kinetics, which indicated that the dissipating region of polymers occupied a wide frequency range. The damping factor (tanδ) of PBO was higher than 1.0 over the range of 0.01 to 1000 Hz, further proving the great damping capacity and energy dissipation of the polymer (Figure 3d). Meanwhile, the creep test of the polymer illustrated the continuous deformation ability to dissipate energy under external force (Figure S6).

3.3. Recyclability of the Adhesive PBO

The prepared adhesive PBO based on the covalent crosslinking network is endowed with reversible recyclability and the capacity of reprocessing because of the dynamic exchange between boronic ester bonds. The covalent linkages will dissociate to dissipate energy once the polymer is destroyed under external stimuli, while reforming new boronic ester bonds via reassociation and leading to the rearrangement of polymer chains to realize the reprocessing of PBO (Figure 4a). To investigate the dynamic transesterification and exchange of boronic ester bonds in the network, temperature-variable FT-IR spectra of PBO were recorded in the temperature range of 30–120 °C (Figure 4b). As the temperature increased, the intensity of the characteristic peak of B–O bonds in boronic esters at about 1388 cm−1 significantly decreased, accompanied by the rise in the characteristic peak of the B–O bonds in the dissociated boronic acids at about 1353 cm−1 (Figure 4c). Meanwhile, the stretching vibration peaks of hydroxyl groups at 3500–3600 cm−1 increased with the temperature rise, illustrating that the boronic ester bonds would dissociate into boronic acids and diol groups under the stimulation. As a result, the dynamic covalent crosslinking polymer exhibits reversible recyclability and reprocessability. As shown in Figure 4d, under 50 °C and 0.1 MPa, the damaged fragments were remolded into a uniform and complete film. Mechanical tensile tests were carried out to evaluate the reprocessing efficiency of PBO. After being recycled for one to five cycles, the stress–strain curves of the recovered polymer were close to the initial curve under the tensile rates of 20 and 50 mm/min (Figure 4e). In addition, the healability of PBO at room temperature is realized under 3.0 MPa pressure. After being healed, the mechanical property of the polymer also demonstrated the original level with a slight decrease in the elongation at break (Figure S7). The activation energy (Ea) of the dynamic polymer was determined via the superimposed curves based on the temperature-dependent horizontal shift factors. As illustrated in Figure 4f, the calculated Ea of PBO is as low as 18.27 kJ/mol, further demonstrating the dynamic performance of the crosslinking network and the excellent mobility of the polymer chains.

3.4. Adhesion Performance of the Adhesive PBO

Based on the mussel-inspired crosslinking structures in the PBO network, the adhesive can form multiple reversible interactions (such as B–O bonds, coordination, and hydrogen interactions) on various substrates to connect materials rigidly. Especially, considering the abundant hydroxyl and carbonyl groups in various materials, hydrogen bonding plays a fundamental and crucial role in the adhesive interfaces [42,43,44,45,46,47]. The adhesion ability of PBO was explored via lap shear adhesion measurements on steel substrates. To adhere the substrates tightly, the bonding processes were completed under hot-pressing conditions with the temperature range of 50–80 °C. During heating, the diffusion of polymer chains, dynamic transesterification, and bond exchanges can be accelerated, resulting in the formation of strong binding between the adhesive layer and substrates after cooling to room temperature (Scheme 2). As shown in Figure 5a,b, the adhesion strength of PBO is dependent on the heating temperature and time. When cured at 60 °C for 10 min, the adhesion value to steel substrates was calculated to be 0.45 ± 0.02 MPa and the work of debonding of PBO was 56.45 N/m (Figure 5c and Figure S8). The adhesion strength obviously increased with the rise in heating time, which reached a value of 0.77 ± 0.04 MPa after being heated for 30 min. As time went by, the adhesion strength slightly decreased because the reversible bonding interactions are dynamic under heating. Similarly, the adhesion property presented the same trend at different curing temperatures. After being heated at 70 °C for 30 min, the adhesion strength of PBO demonstrated the maximum value of 1.07 ± 0.05 MPa, which illustrates that the adhesive can realize rapid and robust bonding on steel materials (Figure 5d). The adhesive also exhibits tough adhesion stability on steel substrates. According to the lap shear curves of the adhesive to steel samples under different heating temperatures, the work of debonding of PBO was calculated to be 81.64 ± 4.05 N/m under 70 °C (Figure 5e). Additionally, the adhered samples cured at 100 °C for 30 min also demonstrated the highest work of debonding (83.37 ± 3.69 N/m) due to the improved penetration of polymer chains to the substrates and the promoted formation of bonding interactions.
Significantly, the adhesive PBO within the dynamic crosslinking network displays excellent cyclic adhesion characteristics. The formed bonding interactions between substrates, like coordination bonds, hydrogen bonds, and boronic ester bonds, are reversible under external force or temperature stimulation, further leading to the detachable interfaces between adhesive and materials. However, these interactions will reassociate between adhesive and substrates via the hot-pressing process owing to their dynamic characteristics. As a result, the synthesized adhesive PBO possesses debonding–rebonding ability for long-term cycle use (Figure 6a). As shown in Figure 6b, the adhesion strength of PBO after 1 rebonding cycle at 70 °C displayed a slight decline while retaining 0.94 ± 0.03 MPa. After 10 cycles of debonding–rebonding treatments, the adhesive still maintained an adhesion strength higher than 0.8 MPa to steel materials and the work of debonding remained at about 60 N/m (Figure 6c). The outstanding cycle adhesion capacity of the reversible adhesive provides a potential pathway for the green circular industry and economy.

4. Conclusions

In summary, this work designs and fabricates a tough and reversible adhesive via mussel-based chemistry combined with dynamic boronic ester bonds through a convenient preparation process. The polymer within a covalent crosslinking network exhibits strong and tough mechanical properties, as well as excellent energy dissipation ability, recyclability, and reprocessability, attributing to the dynamic behaviors of B–O bonds. Inspired by the various bonding interactions from adhesion proteins in the mussel, the synthesized boronic ester crosslinking polymer demonstrates multiple adhesion actions on steel substrates, including B–O bonds and hydrogen and coordination interactions. Consequently, the adhesive demonstrates temperature-responsive and tough adhesion performance, as well as reversible debonding–rebonding behavior, which offers a new recyclable adhesive material and broadens the sustainable materials for practical applications.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/chemistry7060186/s1, Figure S1: 1H NMR spectrum of PBO; Figure S2: GPC spectrum of PBO; Figure S3: SEM image of PBO; Figure S4: Three-dimensional AFM image of PBO; Figure S5: Frequency sweep curves of PBO on DMA; Figure S6: Creep test of PBO on DMA; Figure S7: Healing process at room temperature (a) and stress–strain curves (b) of PBO; Figure S8: Linear analysis of the adhesion performance of PBO with hot-pressing under different temperatures.

Author Contributions

Z.-H.Z. and Q.L. contributed equally to this work. Conceptualization, Z.-H.Z. and J.F.; methodology, Z.-H.Z., Q.L., Y.Z. (Yingpeng Zhou), Y.Z. (Yinghong Zeng), and D.Y.; data curation, Z.-H.Z., Q.L., Y.Z. (Yingpeng Zhou), Y.Z. (Yinghong Zeng), and D.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, Z.-H.Z.; writing—review and editing, J.F.; funding acquisition, Z.-H.Z. and J.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, grant number 2022YFB3808800 (J.F.); the National Nature Science Foundation of China, grant numbers 52272084 (J.F.), 52072177 (J.F.), and 22401150 (Z.-H.Z.); the National Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, grant numbers BK20200471 (J.F.) and BK20241448 (Z.-H.Z.); and Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities, grant number 30924010811 (J.F.).

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:
mfpsmussel foot proteins
DOPA3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine
MMAmethyl methacrylate
BAbutyl acrylate
BD3-butene-1,2-diol
BDAbenzene-1,4-diboronic acid
AIBNazodiisobutyronitrile
PBOthe name of the prepared adhesive

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Figure 1. (a) Network structure schematic of the dynamic covalent crosslinking polymer. (b,c) Adhesion process (b) and the bonding interactions (c) of the adhesive polymer.
Figure 1. (a) Network structure schematic of the dynamic covalent crosslinking polymer. (b,c) Adhesion process (b) and the bonding interactions (c) of the adhesive polymer.
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Scheme 1. The synthesis route of PBO.
Scheme 1. The synthesis route of PBO.
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Figure 2. (a) FT−IR spectra of the reaction’s raw materials and the synthesized PBO. (b–d) AFM image (b), TGA curve (c), and DSC curve (d) of PBO.
Figure 2. (a) FT−IR spectra of the reaction’s raw materials and the synthesized PBO. (b–d) AFM image (b), TGA curve (c), and DSC curve (d) of PBO.
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Figure 3. (a) Stress−strain curves of PBO under different tensile rates. (b–d) Dynamic oscillatory temperature sweeps (b), frequency sweeps (c), and the master curve (d) of PBO.
Figure 3. (a) Stress−strain curves of PBO under different tensile rates. (b–d) Dynamic oscillatory temperature sweeps (b), frequency sweeps (c), and the master curve (d) of PBO.
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Figure 4. (a) The proposed mechanism of the reversible topological rearrangement of PBO. (b,c) Temperature-variable FT-IR spectra of PBO. (d–f) The reprocessing process (d), stress–strain curves (e), and Arrhenius fitting plots (f) of PBO.
Figure 4. (a) The proposed mechanism of the reversible topological rearrangement of PBO. (b,c) Temperature-variable FT-IR spectra of PBO. (d–f) The reprocessing process (d), stress–strain curves (e), and Arrhenius fitting plots (f) of PBO.
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Scheme 2. Adhesion mechanism of PBO on substrates.
Scheme 2. Adhesion mechanism of PBO on substrates.
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Figure 5. (a) Adhesion strength of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for different times. (b) Lap shear curve of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for 10 min. (c) Work of debonding of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for different times. (d,e) Adhesion strength (d) and work of debonding (e) of PBO after being heated at different temperatures for 30 min.
Figure 5. (a) Adhesion strength of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for different times. (b) Lap shear curve of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for 10 min. (c) Work of debonding of PBO after being heated at 60 °C for different times. (d,e) Adhesion strength (d) and work of debonding (e) of PBO after being heated at different temperatures for 30 min.
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Figure 6. Debonding–rebonding process (a), the reusable adhesion strength (b), and the work of debonding (c) of PBO.
Figure 6. Debonding–rebonding process (a), the reusable adhesion strength (b), and the work of debonding (c) of PBO.
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Table 1. Mechanical properties of PBO under different tensile rates.
Table 1. Mechanical properties of PBO under different tensile rates.
Tensile Rate
(mm/min)		Young’s Modulus
(MPa)		Maximum Stress
(MPa)		Maximum Strain
(%)		Toughness
(MJ/m3)
2040.68 ± 0.322.21 ± 0.17930 ± 1014.80 ± 0.19
5031.74 ± 0.283.85 ± 0.28757 ± 1924.30 ± 0.14
10022.67 ± 0.454.42 ± 0.12579 ± 1519.14 ± 0.30
20022.20 ± 0.235.15 ± 0.06540 ± 722.52 ± 0.42
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Zhao, Z.-H.; Li, Q.; Zhou, Y.; Zeng, Y.; Yang, D.; Fu, J. Reversible Mussel-Inspired Adhesive from Strong and Tough Dynamic Covalent Crosslinking Polymer. Chemistry 2025, 7, 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry7060186

AMA Style

Zhao Z-H, Li Q, Zhou Y, Zeng Y, Yang D, Fu J. Reversible Mussel-Inspired Adhesive from Strong and Tough Dynamic Covalent Crosslinking Polymer. Chemistry. 2025; 7(6):186. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry7060186

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhao, Zi-Han, Qikun Li, Yingpeng Zhou, Yinghong Zeng, Dandan Yang, and Jiajun Fu. 2025. "Reversible Mussel-Inspired Adhesive from Strong and Tough Dynamic Covalent Crosslinking Polymer" Chemistry 7, no. 6: 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry7060186

APA Style

Zhao, Z.-H., Li, Q., Zhou, Y., Zeng, Y., Yang, D., & Fu, J. (2025). Reversible Mussel-Inspired Adhesive from Strong and Tough Dynamic Covalent Crosslinking Polymer. Chemistry, 7(6), 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry7060186

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