Hofmeister Anion-Induced Tunable Rheology of Self-Healing Supramolecular Hydrogels

Abstract

Abstract ᅟ Physical gelation behaviors of a series of d-gluconic acetal-based derivatives bearing fatty alkyl amine moieties have been investigated. One of these molecules exhibits excellent gelation behaviors in water, and the resultant hydrogels are found to display self-healing properties. Interestingly, the elasticity and strength of the resulting gel can be tuned by the addition of different kinds of Hofmeister salts. The gel formation mechanism was proposed based on the analysis of FT-IR,1HNMR, and XRD, indicating that the main driving force for the self-assembly was the π-π stacking of the benzene rings in the aqueous solution system. Overall, our research provides an efficient approach for facilely tuning the properties of the d-gluconic acetal-based hydrogel. ᅟ

Keywords

• Gelator
• Rheology
• Self-assembly
• Self-healing
• Thixotropy