Triggered Formation of Thixotropic Hydrogels by Balancing Competitive Supramolecular Synthons

Liu, K.; Steed, J.W.

doi:10.1039/c3sm51949j

Triggered Formation of Thixotropic Hydrogels by Balancing Competitive Supramolecular Synthons

Liu, K.; Steed, J.W.

Authors

K. Liu

Professor Jonathan Steed jon.steed@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Two component hydrogels have been obtained by formation of 1:1 complexes of bis(pyridyl urea)s with a range of dicarboxylic acids. The gels are thixotropic and undergo an assembly process in which short segments can reversibly assemble into an interconnected fibrous network. NMR and IR spectroscopic data suggest that the gelators form neutral gelator–acid complexes rather than salts. The use of dicarboxylic acids to trigger gelation in bis(pyridyl urea)s parallels analogous triggered gelation of metal ions and halogen bond donors in related systems.

Citation

Liu, K., & Steed, J. (2013). Triggered Formation of Thixotropic Hydrogels by Balancing Competitive Supramolecular Synthons. Soft Matter, 9(48), 11699-11705. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3sm51949j

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Nov 12, 2013
Publicly Available Date	Jan 14, 2014
Journal	Soft Matter
Print ISSN	1744-683X
Electronic ISSN	1744-6848
Publisher	Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	9
Issue	48
Pages	11699-11705
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1039/c3sm51949j