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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Adriana Sierra RomeroORCiD, Emmanuel Abotsi, Professor Katarina NovakovicORCiD, Professor Mark GeogheganORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026Polymer–clay composites are produced using emulsion polymerization to create water-based formulations that exhibit reversible adhesion, which is triggered by alkaline or acidic aqueous solutions. These adhesives produce lap shear strengths greater than 1 MPa on a variety of substrates. A polyanionic composite is prepared by incorporating negatively charged montmorillonite into an emulsion of styrene and butyl acrylate with poly(acrylic acid) grafted from the particles. An analogue polycationic composite is made by integrating positively charged hydrotalcite into an emulsion stabilized by the physisorption of chitosan. When two substrates are both coated with the polycationic composite, reversibility is observed under acidic conditions, whereas polyanionic composites exhibit similar behaviour under alkaline conditions. Notably, polyanionic composites fully detach from the substrates, eliminating the need for additional washing. Clays also enhance the rheological behaviour of the emulsions, increasing the viscosity at low shear rates by up to 8 and 800 times, for polyanionic and polycationic formulations, respectively. These composite adhesives are a key development for facilitating the dismantling of products and enhancing recycling efficiency.
Author(s): Sierra-Romero A, Abotsi E, Novakovic K, Geoghegan M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Soft Matter
Year: 2026
Volume: 22
Issue: 7
Pages: 1591-1600
Online publication date: 04/02/2026
Acceptance date: 23/01/2026
Date deposited: 16/02/2026
ISSN (print): 1744-683X
ISSN (electronic): 1744-6848
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
URL: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SM01039J
DOI: 10.1039/d5sm01039j
Data Access Statement: Additional results, photographs and micrographs are included in the supplementary information (SI). See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm01039j. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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