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Adhesive tapes with strong adhesion and triggerable detachment are highly desirable in diverse functional applications. However, existing designs often face limitations such as harsh detaching conditions, complex synthesis, and adhesive residues. Inspired by the formation and removal of scabs, a facile strategy is proposed to design strong adhesive tapes with water-triggered self-detachment based on the crystallization and melt/dissolution of polyethylene glycol (PEG). Owing to the crystallization-induced interfacial reinforcement, the PEG-based elastomers achieve high adhesive strength (0.81 MPa) and instant adhesion. Moreover, the elastomers can self-detach upon water immersion due to the water-mediated destruction of PEG crystals. Compared to other reported adhesive tapes with mild detaching triggers, the elastomers display superior performance with high adhesive strength and negligible residual strength, allowing for intelligent applications of reusable smart tapes. It is believed that this work can inspire the novel design of switchable adhesives.
Zhou et al. (Wed,) studied this question.