Stress Dissipation in Cucurbit[8]uril Ternary Complex Small Molecule Adhesives

The ability to control supramolecular
and macroscopic self-assembly
and disassembly holds great potential for responsive, reversible adhesives
that can efficiently broker stresses accumulated between two surfaces.
Here, cucurbit[8]­uril is used to directly adhere two functionalized
mica substrates creating surface–surface interactions that
are held together through photoreversible CB[8] heteroternary complexes.
Comparison of single-molecule, bulk, and macroscopic adhesion behavior
give insight into cooperativity and stress dissipation in dynamic
adhesive systems.