Thermoreversible adhesives with precisely temperature-controlled detachment enabled by temperature-responsive crystalline domains

Abstract

Thermoreversible adhesives allow for on-demand bonding and debonding on diverse surfaces through thermal stimulation. They have great potential in applications such as temporary fixation, which helps lower product costs and meet the requirements for environmental protection. However, the existing thermoreversible adhesive materials face challenges such as imprecise thermal switching, excessively high detachment temperatures, or poor bonding stability. To address these issues, here, we innovatively introduce temperature-responsive crystalline domains with an appropriate melting temperature (T_m) into the adhesive. These crystalline domains stabilize the adhesive network, thereby enabling it to maintain the high lap shear strength of the adhesive across a wide range. However, above T_m, close to the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the amorphous domains, it causes rapid softening and bonding failure. Therefore, the prepared thermoreversible adhesive simultaneously achieves high lap shear strength (5.38 MPa), reliable bonding stability over the normal operating temperature range (>75% of initial value, 30–70 °C), suitable thermal detachment temperature (∼80 °C, 0.66 MPa), and high environmental reliability. This work provides a feasible strategy for designing precision thermoreversible adhesives, which is conducive to promoting the application of thermoreversible adhesives in scenarios such as temporary fixation.