Issue 18, 2014

Supramolecular gel from folic acid with multiple responsiveness, rapid self-recovery and orthogonal self-assemblies

Abstract

Through a good/poor solvent strategy, native folic acid (FA) which behaves as a super-gelator in DMSO–water system can be successfully employed to construct supramolecular gels. The system exhibited morphological evolution with the increase of FA concentration; various phases such as vesicles, fiber/vesicles, fiber/nanoparticles, nanoparticles were probed. In the self-assembly process, L-glutamic acid moiety induced the formation of helical 1-dimensional (1-D) fibers which further self-assembled into a gel. Stimuli like heat, stress, pH and light which affect the molecular structure of FA or solubility in the mixed solvents had a pronounced influence on the properties of the gels, such as mechanical properties or bulk phases. A time-dependent oscillatory stress scan indicated that the supramolecular gel had a self-healing property. Without tedious modification routes and addition of alkali metal ions, native FA which served as an efficient building block and super-gelator to build up multi-responsive and self-recovery material was investigated for the first time.

Graphical abstract: Supramolecular gel from folic acid with multiple responsiveness, rapid self-recovery and orthogonal self-assemblies

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jan 2014
Accepted
11 Feb 2014
First published
11 Feb 2014

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,16, 8346-8359

Author version available

Supramolecular gel from folic acid with multiple responsiveness, rapid self-recovery and orthogonal self-assemblies

P. Xing, X. Chu, M. Ma, S. Li and A. Hao, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 8346 DOI: 10.1039/C4CP00367E

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