Construction of supramolecular hydrogels using photo-generated nitric oxide radicals.

Mulvee, Matthew; Vasiljevic, Natasa; Mann, Stephen; Patil, Avinash J · Soft Matter · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Photo-generated nitric oxide radicals (NO˙) derived from sodium nitroprusside dihydrate (SNP) are employed for the construction of supramolecular hydrogels based on an amino acid derivative precursor, N-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl tyrosine phosphate (FYP), which through dephosphorylation produces the gelator, N-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl tyrosine (FY). Self-assembly of the amphiphilic gelator yields high-aspect ratio nanofilaments that entangle to form self-supporting, viscoelastic hydrogels. The presence of photolyzed SNP yields periodically twisted nanofilaments with opposite chirality to filaments formed through conventional hydrogelation routes.