Scientists Develop Biodegradable Adhesives for Industrial & Medical Applications

TAGS:  Natural-based Adhesives    

Scientists at Boston University, Mark Grinstaff and his team, have developed an eco-friendly and biodegradable adhesive made of entirely naturally derived chemical components that breaks down after use.

Sustainable Adhesive with Improved Performance

“We are replacing current materials that are not degradable with something better for the environment while still maintaining the properties we expect from a performance standpoint,” said Grinstaff, a BU College of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Translational Research, a College of Arts and Sciences professor of chemistry, and director of the Grinstaff Group.

After two years of experimentation, Grinstaff’s team unveiled an alternative adhesive. The team said the adhesive’s formula easily adapts to suit a wide range of industrial and medical applications that benefit from sticky materials.

“We wanted to mimic the plastic binders in paints that make them stick to the wall,” said Anjeza Beharaj, PhD in organic chemistry and member of Grinstaff Group. The lab works primarily with polymers, large molecular structures made up of chemically linked materials.

Replacing Plastic-based Adhesive Products

Although polymers are often thought to be synonymous with plastic, they can also be made of naturally derived materials. Beharaj and Grinstaff worked with undergraduate researcher Ethan McCaslin and William A. Blessing, who developed an adhesive system made of biodegradable polymers that can effectively stick to anything just as well as, if not better than, plastic-based products on the market today.

“The key ingredient is carbon dioxide,” said Beharaj. About 20 to 40 percent of the biodegradable adhesive, which has the consistency of honey or molasses, is composed of CO₂. “We tend to think of carbon as a polluting gas in the atmosphere, and it can be, in excessive amounts. But what’s exciting is that this material repurposes carbon dioxide that would otherwise go into the atmosphere, and there’s a potential for oil refineries and production plants to repurpose the gas for environmentally friendly polymers. So, it’s a win for the environment and a win for the consumer, as it can potentially lower the price of goods since CO₂ is a cheap raw material,” said Beharaj.

Grinstaff and Beharaj estimate that the adhesive will take a year or less to fully break down in the environment, unlike plastic which will pollute landfills for hundreds of years.

The adhesive represents progress towards making greener products. The adhesive will inspire researchers to work towards a similar goal of making more eco-friendly products.

Flexible Adhesion Strength

Grinstaff’s team envisions the biodegradable adhesive solution could be tailored to fit the many needs of today’s plastic adhesives. By adjusting the ratio of polymers and CO₂ in each batch of adhesives, they can make the material’s adhesion stronger, weaker, or able to respond to certain kinds of surfaces. The adhesive strength can range from that of Scotch tape to permanent wood glue, and it can be tailored to stick to metal, glass, wood, Teflon, and even wet surfaces.

The naturally derived and biodegradable materials are also completely safe to use on or in the human body, according to Beharaj. The adhesives could potentially replace metal used in surgeries to hold bone together, making some surgical procedures less invasive. They could also be used on the surface of skin to protect cuts, scrapes, wounds, or post-surgical incisions.

With such a huge array of possibilities, the next step is to find the best way to use and market the adhesives. There is a need to find the best applications for the adhesive by learning from different communities to suit the needs of all industries.

Source: Boston University