A Hyperbranched Polymer-based Water-resistant Adhesive:Durable Underwater Adhesion And Primer For Anchoring Anti-fouling Hydrogel Coating

Direct deployment of gluing and achieving durable robust adhesion in water is challenging due to difficulty in repelling interface water.This work reports a novel hyperbranched polymer-based water-resistant adhesive(HBPBA)based on Michael addition reaction of multi-vinyl monomers with dopamine and 3-aminophenylboronic acid.Upon encountering water,the HBPBA forms coacervates whose hydrophobic chains aggregate to displace interface water,and meanwhile the catechols exposing outwards contribute to underwater adhesion.The HBPBA can strongly glue diverse substrates including PTFE,PE,PET,ceramic,Ti and stainless steel.The HBPBA can maintain stable adhesion in different environments,such as tap water,simulated sea water,PBS,and a wide range of p H solutions(p H=2 to 10)for 3 months,supposedly due to the complexation of catechol with boronic acid.Intriguingly,the HBPBA film can be bonded to the titanium surface as a primer,which firmly anchors the antifouling PNAGA-PCBAA hydrogel coating through copolymerization of remaining double bonds in HBPBA and NAGA plus CBAA thickened by PNAGA-PCBAA precursor hydrogel.The PNAGA-PCBAA hydrogel-modified titanium is biocompatible and shows outstanding antifouling ability both in vitro and in vivo.This work proposes a new strategy for creating underwater deployable and water-resistant adhesives that may find promising applications in engineering and biomedical fields.