The Latest Adhesive Research: From Smart Functionality to Bioinspired Design
Adhesives are designed to bond materials together, but ongoing innovation continues to expand their role well beyond that core function. Advances in formulation are enabling new levels of performance, functionality, and versatility. Included in these are materials with built-in security features and systems engineered for improved processing and durability. Here is some recent research that highlights how scientists are addressing both longstanding and emerging challenges, offering new opportunities for formulators across a range of applications.
An article published in ACS Omega in December 2025 describes smart adhesives that have the potential to help with anticounterfeiting initiatives. The study describes hot-melt formulations that are embedded with multi-level security markers. The adhesives are "integrated with infrared (IR) emissive and up-conversion green phosphors." These provide a secret, verifiable feature that allows for security while also maintaining the formulation’s key features, including viscosity, melting point, and bonding strength. When exposed to certain light stimuli, the adhesive signals with specific color emissions, providing a verification method for authorized users while also being hidden to potential counterfeiters. Click here to access the full paper, "Recyclable Base-Triggered 'Debond-on-Demand' Aliphatic Polyurethane Adhesives: Engineering Adhesion for Use in Inkjet Formulations."
Published in an August 2025 issue of ACS Applied Polymer Materials, an article by researchers from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Dow Chemical describes a study about modifying cross-linked poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) release coatings for pressure-sensitive adhesive products using hydrophobically functionalized fumed silica, which lowers fracture energies during the PSA/release coating separation. The study found that release coatings with silica had up to 40% lower fracture energies in high-speed regimes, when compared to “neat” PDMS release coatings and showed no difference in low-speed regimes. The researchers also studied the addition of silica in less densely cross-linked PDMS networks with an acrylic PSA. The study offers several alternatives for lowering fracture energies in PDMS release coatings and “highlights the need to understand mechanisms for tailoring properties of release coatings using silica.” Access to the paper, "Tuning High-Speed Adhesive Fracture Energies Using Silica-Modified Silicone Release Coatings," is available here.
In the research area of biomimicry, an article published in the journal Small tackled some of the challenges formulators face when developing octopus-inspired smart adhesives. These adhesives, which have the potential to be used in medical monitoring, among other things, present a gap in adhesion strength due to stiffness, especially when adhering to uneven surfaces. The scientists employed shape memory polymer (SMP) with photothermal conversion properties to try and mimic the tentacle suckers and muscles of an octopus. The goal was to create a photo-responsive smart adhesive that could adjust stiffness. According to the paper abstract, “Leveraging the shape memory performance of the SMP, this smart adhesive is capable of regulating its own stiffness to achieve conformal contact, shape locking, and active release. Moreover, owing to its hydrophobic property, this smart adhesive is not only suitable for manipulating surfaces with various features in air but also capable of functioning effectively in underwater environments.” Among the potential applications for this adhesive is industrial production. To access the paper, "Octopus-Inspired Smart Adhesive with Adjustable Stiffness for Adhesion on Uneven Surfaces in Air and Underwater," click here.
This issue of ASI features new technologies of interest to formulators of adhesives and sealants, including a study outlining an analysis of certain variables on lap-shear strength of a widely used epoxy, and information about a new product that enables polyolefin-based hot-melt adhesives. Also included this month are several articles on adhesive products used in transportation, including the challenge of bonding titanium in extreme environments and sealants in PEM fuel cell humidifiers. And because we are on the cusp of events season, we include information about the upcoming ASC Convention and EXPO and Tape Week 2026. Thanks for reading and please contact me at parkerk@bnpmedia.com with your thoughts and suggestions.
