Mussel Polymers Inc. (MPI), a startup created by Wardenclyffe Chemicals Inc., a technology development company, has licensed the underwater mussel adhesive technology from the Purdue Research Foundation for the commercial production. The technology was created by Jonathan Wilker, a Purdue professor of chemistry and materials engineering, with students in his laboratory.
Moving Research from Lab to Marketplace
The adhesive is called poly(catechol-styrene), or PCS. It was engineered to mimic the glue that mussels naturally use to attach to substrates in the ocean and represents the first new adhesive chemistry to reach the market in decades.
“We have been studying sea creatures, how they stick, and designing synthetic mimics of these materials,” said Wilker. “Now we are quite excited to move these new materials from the research lab into the marketplace. There is potential here to impact several industries, including products that people use in their daily lives,” added Wilker.
The research effort that led to the development of PCS lasted over a decade and was supported with 2 million USD from the Office of Naval Research.
“The entire Purdue Research Foundation and OTC teams were extraordinary in helping us move through the process of licensing this technology, laying the groundwork for taking it to market,” said George Boyajian, chief executive officer of Wardenclyffe.
Providing Solution to Wet Adhesion Problems
The adhesive technology addresses a range of previously unsolvable wet adhesion problems in a variety of industries from biomedical to aerospace to automotive to cosmetics and construction.
Brooke Beier, vice president of the Office of Technology Commercialization, said, “The Mussel Polymers team has done the research and has the resources to take this novel Purdue technology to the next level through the market to industries and customers. It is another success story from the Purdue commercialization ecosystem.”
Wardenclyffe recently received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop this adhesive system for use in the restoration of coral reefs.
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