Hydrophobized plant polyphenols can be easily prepared by rational and controlled etherification of highly abundant aromatic hydroxyls with linear alkyl chains. The resultant organo-soluble polyphenols spontaneously formed fibrous structures and unravelled to be potential adhesive, anticorrosion, and antibacterial coatings.

Reusable and removable adhesives have been synthesized using dynamic Diels–Alder chemistry with high lap shear strength, good reusability and easy removability.

The anticorrosion ability of ultrathin coatings with bio-inspired organic polymers is demonstrated. We prepared a series of catechol-containing poly(alkyl methacrylate)s by free radical polymerization. These copolymers were spin-coated on various corrosion susceptible metal/alloy substrates of magnesium, aluminum, copper and iron without any harsh pretreatment. Several key factors like molecular structure, composition ratio and processing conditions were wisely tailored to afford a transparent, firm and submicron polymer coating on those substrates. Corrosion resistance of the polymer-coated substrates was thoroughly investigated by immersion tests in salt-water and acidic solutions, polarization tests, and visual inspection. Formation of an anomalous dense layer of ca. 5 nm thickness adjacent to the metal surface and a remarkable effect of thermal treatment were clearly observed by neutron reflectivity measurements, leading to a highly protective ability against foreign molecules e.g. water or corrosive ions. A key molecular design for anticorrosive polymer coating was revealed to be a combination of strong and versatile binding ability of catechol units and defect free polymer layers formed on the metal substrates in the presence of hydrophobic alkyl chains. Fig. 2 (a) Comparison of TGA curves among different polymers poly 1A-D (black), poly 2 (red) and poly 3 (blue). Heating rate was 10 C min À1 (b) DSC thermograms (second heating cycle) of poly 1A-D (black) and poly 2 (red). This journal is

A biomimetic design has been explored to achieve high-performance polymer glue with tuneable strength and ductility, which is suitable for a wide-range of substrates under both similar and dissimilar bonding.