Nature's underwater adhesive specialist

Abstract That water and adhesion are in conflict is a widely held view in industry, yet paradoxically, all adhesive events in living organisms occur in the presence of water. The marine mussel serves as an appropriate model to illustrate how Nature designs adhesives to resist the subversive effects of water. In constructing an underwater holdfast, the mussel is concerned with four prerequisites for good adhesion: (1) removing weak boundary layers; (2) spreading the adhesive over the surface; (3) forming strong bonds between the adhesive and the surface; and (4) setting or cross-linking the adhesive.

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