Tough, Instant, and Plant-Compatible Adhesives for Robust Adhesion of Wearable Sensors on Living Plants

Plant-wearable sensors have great potential for in situ and continuous monitoring of plant physiological traits and microenvironments but face significant challenges in stable, long-term attachment due to complex plant surface microstructures and variable environmental conditions. Existing adhesion methods often compromise either bonding strength or plant health, limiting sensor performance and durability. Here, we report a tough, instant, and plant-compatible adhesive (TIP-adhesive) composed of a single monomer, 2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate (HPA), photopolymerized by diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phosphine oxide (TPO). High adhesion strength can be generated within 2 s mainly through van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding, and dipole interactions. It maintains robust adhesion under a wide range of temperatures (5–45 °C), humidity (35–95% RH), and prolonged light exposure (100 days), demonstrating excellent environmental stability. Crucially, the TIP-adhesive achieves a maximal adhesion strength of 8.57 MPa (two polyethylene terephthalate substrates, 5 °C), surpassing common commercial strong adhesives (8.49 MPa for cyanoacrylate-based 502 glue, 0.67 MPa for silicone-based 703 glue) while inducing minimal physiological impact on plants as confirmed by analyses of leaf morphology and stomatal traits. We further demonstrate its utility by securely attaching a wearable leaf elongation sensor for continuous, noninvasive monitoring. This work introduces a simple yet high-performance adhesive solution that enables durable plant-wearable sensor integration, advancing precision plant phenotyping and smart agriculture.