Highly Adhesive Phenolic Compounds as Interfacial Primers for Bone Fracture Fixations

Bone fractures are today stabilized with screws and metal plates. More complicated fractures require alternative treatments that exclude harsh surgical conditions. By adapting the benign and UV initiated thiol-ene reaction, we efficiently fabricated triazine-based, fiber-reinforced adhesive patches within 2 s. To enhance their bone adhesion properties, we found that a pre-treatment step of bone surfaces with phenolic dopamine and poly(parahydroxystyrene) compounds was successful. The latter display the greatest E-module of 3.4 MPa in shear strength. All patches exhibited low cytotoxicity and can therefore find potential use in future treatments of bone fractures.