Microbes Can Produce Glue From Sugar Instead of Oil

KAIST researchers have found a way to make glue out of sugar instead of oil. The team used E. coli bacteria to turn glucose into a polymer, and the resulting material performs well enough to work as a replacement for petroleum-derived hot-melt adhesives, or HMAs.

The E. coli process

Hot-melt adhesives are heat-activated glues used across packaging, furniture, electronics and automobiles. The KAIST team produced a new polymer from glucose using E. coli, and tested whether the resulting material could hold up as an HMA. The team’s approach relies on a simple biological conversion, using the bacteria to carry out the chemical transformation of the glucose feedstock.

How the team tested it

The team demonstrated the material’s adhesive performance and thermal properties. That testing is what supports the claim that the material could serve as an HMA replacement. The source describes the work as coming from KAIST researchers, who demonstrated the potential of using microorganisms to produce a bio-based alternative to petroleum-derived materials for HMAs.

What happens next

More research will test how the material behaves over time, how it compares to existing HMAs in cost and performance, and whether the process can be adapted to other feedstocks beyond glucose. The team’s demonstration opens the door; the road to commercialisation runs through those questions.

Here is a rough outline of the remaining steps:

The key facts are:

• The team used Escherichia coli to produce a new polymer from glucose
• The polymer showed adhesive performance and thermal properties supporting its potential use as an HMA
• The material was tested for adhesive performance and thermal properties

The KAIST team has shown that microbes can produce adhesive materials from glucose instead of petroleum. The question now is whether the promise translates into practice.

adhesives · bio-based · glucose · KAIST · microbes · sustainability