Adhesives are essential synthetic polymer materials with increasing demand in advanced sectors including renewable energy, consumer electronics, intelligent manufacturing, and sustainable packaging. Traditionally, the adhesion performance of these materials has been enhanced by manipulating intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, ion-dipole interactions, coordination bonds, and hydrophobic aggregation, which improve energy dissipation under applied stress. However, these non-covalent interactions are dynamic and sensitive to variables like temperature and strain rate, limiting their effectiveness to specific conditions, and current performance enhancements are reaching a plateau.

In contrast to these intermolecular interactions, the inherent chain and network structures of polymers remain mechanically stable barring degradation, offering a consistent contribution to material performance. Leveraging this characteristic, our research group has concentrated on optimizing polymer topology to create high-performance adhesives. We have developed strategies such as blending polymers with tailored molecular weights, introducing trapped entanglements within polymer networks, and synthesizing hyperbranched polymer architectures to significantly enhance adhesive strength. Our innovative approaches to macromolecular topology aim to overcome the limitations of traditional methods and pave the way for advanced adhesion technologies.