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DOE OSTI · 2522820

Stereomicrostructure-regulated biodegradable adhesives

Zhang, Zhen [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211885209)·Quinn, Ethan C. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000029609806X)·Kenny, Jacob K. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000158832043)·Grigoropoulos, Alexandra [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000271644095)·DesVeaux, Jason S. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000179266327)·Chen, Tiffany [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000320542758)·Zhou, Li [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000196073877)·Xu, Ting [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228312095)·Beckham, Gregg T. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000023480212X)·Chen, Eugene Y.-X. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000175123484)
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Abstract

Commercial adhesives are petroleum-based thermoset networks or nonbiodegradable thermoplastic hot melts, making them ideal targets for replacement by biodegradable alternatives. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) is a biorenewable and biodegradable alternative to conventional plastics, but microbial P3HB, which has a stereoperfect stereomicrostructure, exhibits no adhesion. Here, in this study, by elucidating the fundamental relationship between chemocatalytically engineered P3HB stereomicrostructures and adhesion properties, we found that biodegradable syndio-rich P3HB exhibits high adhesion strength and outperforms common commercial adhesives, whereas syndiotactic, isotactic, or iso-rich P3HB shows no measurable adhesion. The syndio-rich stereomicrostructure brings about desired thermomechanical and viscoelastic properties of P3HB that enable strong adhesion to a range of substrates tested, including aluminum, steel, glass, and wood, and its performance is insensitive to molar mass and reprocessing or reuse.

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRYP3HB stereomicrostructureschemocatalytically tuningnon-biodegradable thermoplastic hot-meltspetroleum-based thermoset networks

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Zhang, Zhen [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211885209), Quinn, Ethan C. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000029609806X), Kenny, Jacob K. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000158832043), Grigoropoulos, Alexandra [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000271644095), DesVeaux, Jason S. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000179266327), Chen, Tiffany [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000320542758), Zhou, Li [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000196073877), Xu, Ting [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228312095), Beckham, Gregg T. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000023480212X), Chen, Eugene Y.-X. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000175123484). 2025-01-17. Stereomicrostructure-regulated biodegradable adhesives. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr7175

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗