Improving adhesives for use in aqueous ionic solutions is an important challenge relevant to dental and surgical adhesives. Prospective adhesives for biologically relevant environments face reduced van der Waals interactions under water, charge screening by dissolved ions, and hydration layers on hydrophilic surfaces. Many existing biomedical adhesives including cyanoacrylates and fibrin sealants have been brittle or poorly biocompatible, motivating the development of a robust, biocompatible adhesive. Marine mussels adhere to a wide variety of surfaces under water, making them attractive inspirations for synthetic adhesives. Here, we explore interactions between synthetic mussel-inspired catecholamine surface primers and films of collagen type-1 (Col-1), a major component of animal connective tissues. Using a surface forces apparatus (SFA), we show that these primers mediate persistent adhesion between Col-1 films in acidic and neutral aqueous solutions. We complement these force measurements with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and isothermal scanning calorimetry (ITC). Our findings suggest that the mussel-inspired catecholamine surface primers may be a promising candidate for biomedical adhesives.

Collagen thin film adhesion mediated by mussel-inspired catecholamine surface primers

2019 Fall National Meeting

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