Water activated skin adhesives

• Main Author: Liu, Zong Yao
• Other Authors: Terry W.J. Steele
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Materials; Biomaterials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174620
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Bioadhesives have been gaining popularity as a result of the increased demand of management of wound closure and haemostasis, providing a minimally invasive wound closure method that can achieve scarless wound healing, unlike other conventional methods such as sutures or staples. However, bioadhesives have potential cytotoxicity and require further development on their adhesive strength, limiting its uses in clinical applications. This project aims to improve the bioadhesive properties, primarily adhesion strength, of 2,5 – Dihydroxybenzaldehyde grafted on branched polyethyleneimine (2,5 - DBA-g-PEI), a catechol-based bioadhesive where the catechol is activated by curing in water, by varying structure-property relationships (SPRs) that affect its bioadhesive properties. The formulation is based off a previously developed bioadhesive in the laboratory, PEI-DBA20 [1]. In order to determine how the SPRs affect 2,5 -DBA-g-PEI, lap shear tests, peel tests, and UV-vis spectroscopy are used. Lap shear tests showed that the catechol 2,5 – DBA was the best performing compared to other catechols when grafted on PEI, thus 2,5 – DBA-g-PEI was used for the project. Testing of other SPRs resulted in less optimal bioadhesive properties such as reduced adhesion strength or increased number of undesired types of failure (adherend). These SPRs include the reduction of lap shear rate, swelling of 2,5 – DBA-g-PEI in 1x PBS for extended periods of time, addition crosslinking/oxidizing agents, and increase of curing temperature. Although a number of SPRs tested reduced the adhesion strength rather than increasing it, further research can be done on other SPRs that affect the bioadhesive properties of 2,5 – DBA-g-PEI such as using other catechols or changing pH levels during curing to help advance the development of water-cured bioadhesives.