Recent Advances in Polydopamine for Surface Modification and Enhancement of Energetic Materials: A Mini-Review

Polydopamine (PDA), inspired by the adhesive mussel foot proteins, is widely applied in chemical, biological, medical, and material science due to its unique surface coating capability and abundant active sites. Energetic materials (EMs) play an essential role in both military and civilian fields as a chemical energy source. Recently, PDA was introduced into EMs for the modification of crystal phase stability and the interfacial bonding effect, and, as a result, to enhance the mechanical, thermal, and safety performances. This mini-review summarizes the representative works in PDA modified EMs from three perspectives. Before that, the self-polymerization mechanisms of dopamine and the methods accelerating this process are briefly presented for consideration of researchers in this field. The future directions and remaining issues of PDA in this field are also discussed at last in this mini-review.