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from the for-all-your-underwater-teflon-binding-needs dept.
An adhesive that works under water and is modeled after those created by shellfish to stick to surfaces is stronger than many commercial glues created for the purpose.
"Our current adhesives are terrible at wet bonding, yet marine biology solved this problem eons ago," said Jonathan Wilker, a professor of chemistry and materials engineering at Purdue University. "Mussels, barnacles, and oysters attach to rocks with apparent ease. In order to develop new materials able to bind within harsh environments, we made a bio-mimetic polymer that is modeled after the adhesive proteins of mussels."
New findings showed that the bio-based glue performed better than 10 commercial adhesives when used to bond polished aluminum. When compared with the five strongest commercial glues included in the study, the new adhesive performed better when bonding wood, Teflon and polished aluminum. It was the only adhesive of those tested that worked with wood and far out-performed the other adhesives when used to join Teflon.
Findings are detailed in a research paper published online in February and in the March 1 print issue of the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Mussels extend hair-like fibers that attach to surfaces using plaques of adhesive. Proteins in the glue contain the amino acid DOPA, which harbors the chemistry needed to provide strength and adhesion. Purdue researchers have now inserted this chemistry of mussel proteins into a biomimetic polymer called poly(catechol-styrene), creating an adhesive by harnessing the chemistry of compounds called catechols, which are contained in DOPA.
Michael A. North et al. High Strength Underwater Bonding with Polymer Mimics of Mussel Adhesive Proteins, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b00270
(Score: 3, Interesting) by moondoctor on Saturday March 11 2017, @07:18PM (5 children)
Right away this made me think of when I worked at an Abalone farm. Amazing creatures. Once they grow to more than a few inches across they can stick themselves down so hard there's no way to pull them up without a lever of some sort. Divers use what amounts to a crow bar to harvest full grown adults ('hubcaps') in the wild. You have to get the knife under the animal before it 'sucks down' and gets a good grip on whatever it's on. If you don't get the lever well under it and it gets a good seal they're almost impossible to pull up. Like 'whoa, does this thing have super powers?' hard to remove. I don't know if it's the same 'technology' as they are talking about, but if it is possible to make artificial gription devices (that's a technical term) that are as effective as mussels and abalone, it would be truly amazing and would likely allow for interesting technological developments. The abalone 'foot' is weird (like a snail foot) it's pretty soft when they walk around, and they can move surprisingly fast, crawling from one pile into the other while you're trying to count them, then when they tense the foot up it gets to about the consistency of gums (like in your mouth around you teeth), maybe a little more firm, and it is seriously attached to *whatever* it's touching in seconds.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday March 11 2017, @08:13PM
Have you ever fellated a geoduck?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday March 12 2017, @05:09AM (3 children)
I sure wish this technology was available to dentists.
I just had another crown come loose... on nacho chips. Nothing like a crowbar. Nacho chips!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday March 12 2017, @04:35PM (2 children)
Heck, I once had a tooth split in half eating *spaghetti*. Not even any crunchy bits in the sauce.
I think we have to blame all the *other* stuff we've eaten in the months/years beforehand, not whatever happened to be at hand when the final bit of anchoring failed.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday March 13 2017, @04:49AM (1 child)
Last night, ( Saturday ), I had my crown come loose while at Del Taco eating a Soft Shell Chicken Burrito!
The crown had just been installed the previous day ( Friday )!
As it has always been, it was an excellent burrito. I really enjoy their food. Nothing in the burrito to cause this.
I am so disgusted at times with the state of our technology. Given the kind of glues dentists use, I am sorely tempted to take matters into my own hands and use JBWeld.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday March 13 2017, @04:51AM
Ok.. I had nachos with the burrito. Still, this should have held.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]