A biodegradable bioinspired oil-coated adhesive film for enhanced wet adhesion

Abstract

Bioinspired and biodegradable polymer-based adhesive films have attracted attention in the medical field because of their stable adhesion performance and ability to decompose in the body without additional surgical procedures. Among biodegradable materials, poly (glycerol sebacate) (PGS) can be applied to softenss-tuned microarchitecture-based adhesive films, because it has bioresorbable and residue-free characteristics. Herein, we presented a bioinspired oil-coated adhesive film fabricated using PGS, which can maintain adhesion on a wet surface by mimicking the toe pad and mucus of a frog. To implement frog-like adhesive architectures, the particular criteria under which PGS can be patterned were presented using simple models based on the degree of esterification and interfacial energy difference. Wet adhesion of our oil-coated film was achieved by replicating the frog-like hexagonal micro-channel and concave cup structures coated with vicious glycerol oil, resulting in a stable residue-free wet adhesion against diverse non-flat soft organ surfaces.