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Superspreading and ultra-infiltrative coacervate mediates strong underwater adhesion on hydrated and lipidic substrates

Nature Chemistry (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Developing adhesives with robust underwater adhesion to diverse substrates, particularly highly hydrated and lipidic substrates, remains a major challenge. Inspired by the tough adhesion of barnacles on marine creatures, here we report a dilution-resistant and superspreading coacervate to mediate robust underwater adhesion by enabling interfacial infiltration and intertwining. Conjugation of terminal butyl groups to poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) triggers liquid–liquid phase separation of the aqueous solution and formation of PPG coacervate driven by the hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. The simple coacervate shows distinctive superspreading properties to facilitate interfacial wetting, infiltration and formation of intertwined interfaces on both the hydrated and lipidic substrates and concentrates the loaded hydrophilic curing agents to form a robust underwater adhesive by rapid in situ photocuring. The coacervate-based adhesive demonstrates strong underwater adhesion to diverse substrates, including highly hydrated and lipidic substrates with multiscale porosity and in complex aqueous environments. Potential applications of this adhesive are validated by robust adhesion-mediated hydrogel and/or organogel assemblies and effective sealing of underwater leakages and tissue perforations.

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Fig. 1: Dilution-resistant and superspreading coacervates mediate strong underwater adhesion by mimicking barnacle adhesion to marine creatures.
Fig. 2: Assembly of dilution-resistant PPG simple coacervate by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions.
Fig. 3: Unique interfacial properties of the PPG coacervate enable underwater substrate superspreading and ultra-infiltration.
Fig. 4: Polymer hydrogen-bonding network dictates the coacervate-mediated strong underwater adhesion.
Fig. 5: Potential applications of the simple coacervate-based underwater adhesives.

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All data supporting the findings of this study are presented in the paper and Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 52433010 to L.B.; 52403181 to B.Y. and 52473129 to P.Z.). This work was also supported by the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant no. 2025A1515012036 to P.Z.) and the GJYC program of Guangzhou (grant no. 2024D03J0004 to L.B.). This work was also supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. 2025ZYGXZR015 to L.B.) and the Open Foundation of Hubei Key Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine and Multi-disciplinary Translational Research (grant no. 2025zsyx01 to P.Z.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the article.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Bo Yi, Hao Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Guangzhou International Campus, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China

    Bo Yi, Sirong Chen, Honghui Lian, Fengming Tan, Haiyang Yao, Xiayi Xu, Kunyu Zhang, Pengchao Zhao & Liming Bian

  2. Department of Joint Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P. R. China

    Hao Li

  3. National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China

    Xiayi Xu, Kunyu Zhang, Pengchao Zhao & Liming Bian

  4. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China

    Xiayi Xu, Kunyu Zhang, Pengchao Zhao & Liming Bian

  5. Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials of the Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China

    Pengchao Zhao & Liming Bian

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Contributions

B.Y. and L.B. conceived the idea. B.Y. conducted the material preparation and characterizations and data analysis. H. Li conducted the cytocompatibility and in vivo studies. S.C., H. Lian, F.T. and H.Y. helped with the data acquisition. X.X., K.Z. and P.Z. helped on the data analysis and discussion. B.Y. wrote the paper. L.B., P.Z., K.Z., B.Y. and H. Li revised the paper. L.B., P.Z. and K.Z. supervised the entire research. All authors approved the final version of the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kunyu Zhang, Pengchao Zhao or Liming Bian.

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Nature Chemistry thanks Uttam Manna, Adrivit Mukherjee, Qi Zhang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Yi, B., Li, H., Chen, S. et al. Superspreading and ultra-infiltrative coacervate mediates strong underwater adhesion on hydrated and lipidic substrates. Nat. Chem. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-026-02087-9

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