Nature Communications (Jun 2017)

Free-standing supramolecular hydrogel objects by reaction-diffusion

  • Matija Lovrak,
  • Wouter E. J. Hendriksen,
  • Chandan Maity,
  • Serhii Mytnyk,
  • Volkert van Steijn,
  • Rienk Eelkema,
  • Jan H. van Esch

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15317
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Reaction-diffusion controls the spatial formation of many natural structures but is rarely applied to organic materials. Here, the authors couple reaction-diffusion to the self-assembly of a supramolecular gelator, introducing a strategy to forming soft, free-standing objects with controlled shape and functionality.