MultiGlue

The recycling of materials from glued composites is a major challenge for efficient recycling management, especially in view of the steadily growing number of different plastics in composite materials.

The aim of the subproject is to develop conceptually new adhesive systems that enable easy recycling of the bonded materials and the individual components of the value chain. In addition, the adhesive will be based mainly on renewable raw materials or on agricultural by-products.

Bonding of the adhesive developed in MultiGlue to the material surface, adhesion, is mediated by highly selective and strong-binding anchor peptides, which in turn are conjugated to highly charged biobased polymers; the latter, together with surface-active surfactants, form coacervates and thus enable strong cohesion. By incorporating functional additives "stimulus-responsive building blocks", the adhesive performance is modulated or reversibly switched on and off by an external stimulus for example temperature, light or mechanical force.

The developed MultiGlue adhesive will provide adhesive performance comparable to commercially available cyanoacrylate-based super glue, but with the distinct advantage that the bonded materials can be selectively separated and recovered in the recycling process.