Recyclable glue bonds underwater in seconds and holds for years

Phys · 🇨🇳 public China · Aug 12, 2026 · 511 words · By Paul Arnold

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What to know about Recyclable glue bonds underwater in seconds and holds for years

Researchers in China have developed a recyclable, water-repellent adhesive called BP16TPB that can bond materials underwater within seconds. The glue utilizes Marangoni flow to penetrate hydration layers and has demonstrated long-term durability and reusability in various water conditions.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

August 12, 2026 report Recyclable glue bonds underwater in seconds and holds for years Paul Arnold Author Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor Most glues need a dry surface to stick properly.

Why it matters

Bonding materials underwater is challenging because water forms a thin film on any surface, so instead of an adhesive touching a material directly, it touches a layer of water, which weakens the bond.

Common ground

But scientists from China have now created a superglue that repels water and forms a strong, recyclable bond within seconds, as they report in a paper published in Nature Communications.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Recyclable glue bonds underwater in seconds and holds for years?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that scientists from China have now created a superglue that repels water and forms a strong, recyclable bond within seconds, as they report in a paper published in Nature Communications?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-recyclable-bonds-underwater-seconds-years.html

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

info Single Source 2

schedule Pending 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

info

Claim 1: “scientists from China have now created a superglue that repels water and forms a strong, recyclable bond within seconds, as they report in a paper published in Nature Communications.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While several search results discuss the glue BP16TPB, the specific detail about the paper being published in 'Nature Communications' is not explicitly confirmed by the provided evidence snippets, although the glue's properties are mentioned in multiple news-like snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The China Initiative was a program of the United States Department of Justice under President Donald Trump to combat alleged economic espionage and intellectual property theft purportedly linked to Ch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Initiative

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nature is a British weekly international scientific journal publishing peer-reviewed research across the natural sciences, including biology, physics, chemistry, the earth sciences, and related interd…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_(journal)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yi Cui (Chinese: 崔屹; pinyin: Cuī Yì; born 1976) is a Chinese-American physical chemist specializing in the fields of nanotechnology, materials science, sustainable energy, and chemistry. He is a profe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Cui_(scientist)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “It also formed strong bonds with copper, epoxy resin and polyamide in acidic, alkaline and salty water.”

CORROBORATED

The evidence explicitly mentions the glue formed strong bonds with copper, epoxy resin, and polyamide in acidic, alkaline, and salty water.

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Claim 3: “The DMSO solvent then diffuses outward, causing the molecules to reassemble into a tough, water-resistant adhesive within seconds.”

CORROBORATED

The evidence confirms the general mechanism of diffusion and specifically mentions that in this adhesive, exposure to water triggers molecular components to reorganize and form strong bonds.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion

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web search NEUTRAL — The result of diffusion is a gradual mixing of material such that the distribution of molecules is uniform. Since the molecules are still in motion, but an equilibrium has been established, the result…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_diffusion

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The random movement of fluid molecules makes them spread out until a boundary stops them. Diffusion is a passive process, therefore does not require energy as it occurs down a concentration gradient. …
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion

schedule

Claim 4: “adhesive performance drops significantly above 70°C (158°F).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “The adhesive, which the researchers named BP16TPB, reached a bonding strength of 1.1 megapascals on ceramic after only 10 seconds.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources explicitly state that BP16TPB reached a bonding strength of 1.1 megapascals on ceramic after 10 seconds.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The adhesive, which the researchers named BP16TPB, reached a bonding strength of 1.1 megapascals on ceramic after only 10 seconds. Within five minutes, this had risen to 1.3 megapascals.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-recyclable-bonds-underwater-se…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The material demonstrated exceptionally strong adhesion, reaching a bonding strength of 1.1 megapascals after just 10 seconds underwater—substantially outperforming conventional underwater adhesives. …
https://ana.ir/en/news/11154/new-underwater-adhesive-gets-st…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ученые опубликовали описание адгезива BP16TPB: под водой он схватывается за 10 секунд, с каждой минутой становится прочнее и удерживает нагрузку 2 кг более трех лет. Работает в кислой, щелочной и соле…
https://hi-tech.mail.ru/news/153172-kley-bp16tpb-shvativaets…

schedule

Claim 6: “Qinyu Hu et al, Macroscopic assembly of supramolecular coacervates for underwater adhesion, Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76507-2”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “They mixed it with a solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and applied the solution directly onto submerged objects made of ceramic, copper, epoxy resin and polyamide.”

CORROBORATED

The specific mixture of the glue with DMSO and its application to ceramic, copper, epoxy resin, and polyamide is explicitly stated in multiple search results.

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web search NEUTRAL — They mixed it with a solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and applied the solution directly onto submerged objects made of ceramic, copper, epoxy resin and polyamide.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-recyclable-bonds-underwater-se…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide): how to use, safety and handling. Dimethyl Sulfoxide is a 100% natural product which is documented as a safe substance. However, some precautions are needed when using it. It…
https://organicbiomama.com/dmso-safety-handling-recipes

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web search NEUTRAL — The mixture of RTILs and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is one of the most stimulating RTIL–solvent systems as a representative model for the RTIL–solvent mixture study. − This is attributed to the great s…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12756747/

help

Claim 8: “They dissolved it back into the DMSO solvent to return it to its liquid state and then reapplied it to stick new surfaces together. They repeated this up to eight times, and the glue showed no observable drop in adhesion performance.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

While the glue is described as 'recyclable' in titles, the specific detail about dissolving it in DMSO and reapplying it eight times without performance loss is not present in the provided evidence snippets.

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Claim 9: “the research team synthesized a supramolecular ionic liquid, a salt-like material whose molecules are held together by temporary, reversible interactions.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources describe the material as a supramolecular ionic liquid or supramolecular plastic held together by reversible interactions.

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web search NEUTRAL — Supramolecular polymer networks are chains of low molecular mass monomers held together by reversible non-covalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonds, metal–ligand bonds, hydrophobic or π−π stacking…
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-00657-9_…

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web search NEUTRAL — Supramolecular polymer networks are chains of low molecular mass monomers held together by reversible non-covalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonds, metal–ligand bonds, hydrophobic or π−π stacking…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360759174_Supramole…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Aida and the team developed a plastic that degrades in saltwater within several hours, leaving no microplastics behind. The new plastic is a supramolecular plastic made from two polymers held together…
https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/science/scientists-announ…

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Claim 10: “differences in surface tension trigger a rapid motion called Marangoni flow that disrupts the thin layer of water on the surface.”

CORROBORATED

General scientific evidence confirms that Marangoni flow is triggered by surface tension differences to disrupt fluid layers, and the context of the glue's application aligns with this physical phenomenon.

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web search NEUTRAL — Moreover, the surface tension gradient induced by the ink concentration gradient may trigger Marangoni flow to enhance or repress the capillary flow [97,98]. He et al. [100] demonstrated a feasible, m…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23963244_Marangoni_…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Marangoni bursting is a visually stunning phenomenon created by differences in surface tension. Droplets of colored fluid burst into 1000s of smaller droplets within seconds.
https://www.willdonaldson.io/blog/marangoni-bursting

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Marangoni effect is an awesome high school physics phenomenon about surface tension and fluid dynamics that looks like magic! 00:00 Intro to Destructive Creativity 00:45 Defining of terms and expl…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ0pg-qji8A

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Claim 11: “In a long-term test, a joint bonded with BP16TPB held a 2-kilogram weight (4.4 pounds) underwater for more than three years without failing.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the long-term test where a 2-kilogram weight was held underwater for more than three years.

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web search NEUTRAL — Researchers synthesized BP16TPB and three reference compounds to evaluate the individual molecular components. BP16TPB consists of hydrogen-bonded aromatic bis-urea cations, flexible sixteen-carbon al…
https://www.azom.com/news.aspx?newsID=65687

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In a long-term test, a joint bonded with BP16TPB held a 2-kilogram weight (4.4 pounds) underwater for more than three years without failing. It also formed strong bonds with copper, epoxy resin and po…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-recyclable-bonds-underwater-se…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In this adhesive, exposure to water triggers the molecular components to reorganize and form strong bonds between submerged surfaces. The researchers combined flexible and rigid molecular components i…
https://ana.ir/en/news/11154/new-underwater-adhesive-gets-st…

info

Claim 12: “Within five minutes, this had risen to 1.3 megapascals.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific value of 1.3 megapascals within five minutes is mentioned in one source snippet, but not corroborated by others provided.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — To convert megapascals (MPa) to bar, use the fixed pressure conversion factor between the two units. Since this is a direct conversion, you only need to multiply the value in MPa by 10.
https://www.xconvert.com/unit-converter/megapascals-to-bar

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The choice between methods should take bracket bond strength and preservation of the ceramic surface after debonding into account. Adequate bond strength itself is not enough, if at the end of treatme…
https://www.scielo.br/j/dpjo/a/x3txGHQ3Vqnh7v4ywvSdxDq/?lang…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.