Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada-ku, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 Aug 1;56(32):9410-9414. doi: 10.1002/anie.201704731. Epub 2017 Jul 5.
Supramolecular hydrogels are expected to have applications as novel soft materials in various fields owing to their designable functional properties. Herein, we developed an in situ synthesis of supramolecular hydrogelators, which can trigger gelation of an aqueous solution without the need for temperature change. This was achieved by mixing two precursors, which induced the synthesis of a supramolecular gelator and its instantaneous self-assembly into nanofibers. We then performed the in situ synthesis of this supramolecular gelator at an oil/water interface to produce nanofibers that covered the surfaces of the oil droplets (nanofiber-stabilized oil droplets). External stimuli induced fusion of the droplets owing to disassembly of the gelator molecules. Finally, we demonstrated that this stimuli-induced droplet fusion triggered a synthetic reaction within the droplets. This means that the confined nanofiber-stabilized droplets can be utilized as stimuli-responsive microreactors.
超分子水凝胶由于其设计的功能特性，有望作为新型软材料在各个领域得到应用。本文开发了一种超分子水凝胶因子的原位合成方法，它可以在不改变温度的情况下触发水溶液的胶凝。这是通过混合两种前体来实现的，这两种前体诱导了超分子凝胶因子的合成及其瞬时自组装成纳米纤维。然后，我们在油/水界面进行了这种超分子凝胶因子的原位合成，以产生覆盖油滴表面的纳米纤维（纳米纤维稳定的油滴）。由于凝胶因子分子的解组装，外部刺激诱导了液滴的融合。最后，我们证明这种刺激诱导的液滴融合触发了液滴内的合成反应。这意味着受限的纳米纤维稳定的液滴可以用作对刺激有响应的微反应器。
