Preserving the adhesion of catechol-conjugated hydrogels by thiourea–quinone coupling

Abstract

Mussel adhesion has inspired the development of catechol-based adhesive polymers. However, conventional strategies require basic pH conditions and lead to the loss of adhesion. To solve the problem, we report the first attempt to use thiourea-functionalized polymers for preserving hydrogel adhesion. We believe that this simple thiourea–quinone coupling chemistry is instrumental to synthetic adhesive materials.