Non-equilibrium polymerization enables adhesive material with anti-freezing, multipurpose adhesion, long-term air stability and anisotropic deformation

We demonstrate a simple but versatile strategy to prepare multifunctional supramolecular adhesive gel material featuring for anti-freezing (as low as −30 °C), multipurpose adhesion, long-term air stability and anisotropic deformation properties. [Display omitted] •Superior supramolecular adhesive material is obtained by non-equilibrium polymerization.•The adhesives can adhere to various type of solid materials as well as biological tissues.•Both excellent anti-freezing (−30 °C) performance and long-term air stability (>30 days) are achieved.•The adhesive material can also exhibit anisotropic bending or self-healing behavior. Stability under extreme conditions, multipurpose adhesion and programmable shape deformation are of significance to the adhesive material. Here, we report a simple yet versatile method, referred as non-equilibrium polymerization, to fabricate such multifunctional adhesive gel. Two miscible phases-water and glycerol-containing hydroxyethyl acrylamide (HEAA) monomers, can be engineered to exist in out-of-equilibrium state due to the density discrepancy. The dynamically stable system is subsequently polymerized under UV irradiation to generate double-layered gel with multipurpose adhesion that can adhere to various type of solid materials as well as biological tissues. The superior adhesive property can retain in the temperature range from −30 °C to 60 °C, or enhance when directly exposing to the air for more than 30 days. In addition, the adhesive gel also demonstrates interesting anisotropic deformation, owing to the swelling rate discrepancy for both layers. We anticipate that the alternative strategy presented here will open up a new approach for the design of high performance adhesive material with tunable and synergistic properties.