Biocompatible Tough Ionogels with Reversible Supramolecular Adhesion

Cohesive and interfacial adhesion energies are difficult to balance to obtain reversible adhesives with both high mechanical strength and high adhesion strength, although various methods have been extensively investigated. Here, a biocompatible citric acid/L-(−)-carnitine (CAC)-based ionic liquid was developed as a solvent to prepare tough and high adhesion strength ionogels for reversible engineered and biological adhesives. The prepared ionogels exhibited good mechanical properties, including tensile strength (14.4 MPa), Young’s modulus (48.1 MPa), toughness (115.2 MJ m–3), and high adhesion strength on the glass substrate (24.4 MPa). Furthermore, the ionogels can form mechanically matched tough adhesion at…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22173046, 52333002
• GR
  Graduate Research and Innovation Projects of Jiangsu Province

  Award: KYCX22_3202