Free-standing supramolecular hydrogel objects by reaction-diffusion.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28580948.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms15317 and PMC identifier 5465320.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Self-assembly provides access to a variety of molecular materials, yet spatial control over structure formation remains difficult to achieve. Here we show how reaction-diffusion (RD) can be coupled to a molecular self-assembly process to generate macroscopic free-standing objects with control over shape, size, and functionality. In RD, two or more reactants diffuse from different positions to give rise to spatially defined structures on reaction. We demonstrate that RD can be used to locally control formation and self-assembly of hydrazone molecular gelators from their non-assembling precursors, leading to soft, free-standing hydrogel objects with sizes ranging from several hundred micrometres up to centimeters. Different chemical functionalities and gradients can easily be integrated in the hydrogel objects by using different reactants. Our methodology, together with the vast range of organic reactions and self-assembling building blocks, provides a general approach towards the programmed fabrication of soft microscale objects with controlled functionality and shape.