IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-63123-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Solution-sheared supramolecular oligomers with enhanced thermal resistance in interfacial adhesion and bulk cohesion

Author

Listed:
  • Gang Lu

    (University of Pennsylvania
    City University of Hong Kong)

  • Rui Ma

    (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

  • Yuanyuan Zhao

    (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

  • Dianyu Wang

    (Zhengzhou University)

  • Wentao Shang

    (City University of Hong Kong
    Jinan University)

  • Huaguo Chen

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Shahid Ali Khan

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Ming Li

    (Imperial College London)

  • Eduardo Saiz

    (Imperial College London)

Abstract

Developing strong, thermally resistant adhesives for load-bearing applications remains challenging. Here we report a class of solution-sheared supramolecular oligomers that exhibit exceptional adhesive strength and toughness across a broad temperature range. These adhesives achieve a debonding work up to 23.6 kN/m and a lap shear strength exceeding 30.6 MPa, surpassing commercial structural adhesives by up to eightfold on metal and glass surfaces. Impressively, they retain a lap shear strength above 21 MPa even at 120 °C, outperforming current leading commercial alternatives. This performance arises from hierarchical nanostructures formed during solution shearing, which create enlarged, ordered nanocrystals and aligned nanofibrils within the bulk, enhancing mechanical robustness and toughness. Simultaneously, hydrogen-bonded nanocrystals anchored at the surface significantly strengthen interfacial adhesion. This multiscale structural organization enables thermal tolerance, crack resistance, and efficient energy dissipation, setting a new paradigm for high-performance, reusable adhesives capable of multiple rebonding cycles. Our work demonstrates how solution-shearing simultaneously optimizes adhesion chemistry and multiscale nano/microstructural control, achieving synergistic improvements in interfacial adhesion and bulk cohesion.

Suggested Citation

  • Gang Lu & Rui Ma & Yuanyuan Zhao & Dianyu Wang & Wentao Shang & Huaguo Chen & Shahid Ali Khan & Ming Li & Eduardo Saiz, 2025. "Solution-sheared supramolecular oligomers with enhanced thermal resistance in interfacial adhesion and bulk cohesion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63123-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63123-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63123-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-63123-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63123-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.