Single molecular adhesive coacervates inspired by marine mussels

Injectable adhesives

Blood vessel
adhesives/coatings

Bone support
Torn
tendon

Fractured bone
 Bio-inspired adhesives as template for synthetic adhesives:
How the mussel does it

Catechol functionality:
1) Strong and reversible
adhesion and cohesion
2) Tunable

Cohesive
bonds in
bulk

Complex coacervates:
1) Efficiently coat surfaces underwater
and harden into plaques
Adhesive 2) Permeable:
bonds at fluids can pass providing cells with nutrients
interface 3) Tunable
 Bio-inspired adhesives as template for synthetic adhesives
wet-adhesion: achieved by elegant protein structure: cationic-anionic-catechol-hydrophilic-hydrophobic

Types of
mussel foot
protein

*S: phosphoserine
Primary structure of mfp-5
 Aim : Design and synthesis of mussel-inspired adhesive coacervates

Primary structure of mfp-5, *S: phosphoserine

Turbidity
c12 cloudy c12 clear C8
20
15

γ(mJ/m2)
10
5
0
-5
0 10 20 30
Hours
Specific moieties of
mussel’s bio-
adhesion (mfps)

Sophisticated chemical
CH2CH3 composition of (mfps) Complex
Anion: coacervation
Cation: Hydrophobic:
Amine Phosphate Hydrocarbon
Catechol
Alky tail length modification Catechol modification

Z-Cat-C4
Z-Cat-C8
Z-Cat-C12 Z-Ben-C8

Gemini dimer Additional catechol

Z-Phe-C8

Z-Cat-Sym
Z-Cat-Dim
Z-Cat-C8 DLS: Size 1.7 nm, 403.7 nm, and 4999.0 nm (PDI ~ 0.6)
Zeta Potential (ζ)= -8.4 mV (20%) and 33.0 mV (80%) (Hückel
model used to calculate)

0.5mM C8 in DI water

FICO fringe of 0.5mM C8 in contact

Z-Cat-C12
• Clear
DLS: Size 560 nm
(PDI ~ 0.2 - 0.3)
Zeta Potential (ζ) =
-60 ± 6 mV

0.5mM C12 clear in DI water

• Cloudy
DLS: Size 1500 nm (PDI ~ 0.2 - 0.3)
Zeta Potential (ζ) = 0 ± 5 mV

0.5mM C12 cloudy in DI water

Z-Cat-C8

0.5mM C8

DLS: Size 560 nm (PDI ~ 0.2 - 0.3)

Zeta Potential (ζ)= -42 ± 5 mV (Hückel model used to calculate)
Z-Cat-C12

0.5mM C12 clear

• Clear
DLS: Size 560 nm (PDI ~ 0.2 - 0.3)
Zeta Potential (ζ) = -60 ± 6 mV