Surface‐Assisted Self‐Assembly of a Hydrogel by Proton Diffusion. (30th July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Spitzer, Daniel; Marichez, Vincent; Formon, Georges J. M.; Besenius, Pol; Hermans, Thomas M.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 130:Number 35(2018)
• Page Start: 11519
• Page End: 11523
• Publication Date: 2018-07-30
• Subjects: Adaptive Materialien -- Hydrogele -- Selbstorganisation -- Stimuliresponsivität -- Supramolekulare Chemie; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201806668
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

Abstract: Controlling supramolecular growth at solid surfaces is of great importance to expand the scope of supramolecular materials. A dendritic benzene‐1, 3, 5‐tricarboxamide peptide conjugate is described in which assembly can be triggered by a pH jump. Stopped‐flow kinetics and mathematical modeling provide a quantitative understanding of the nucleation, elongation, and fragmentation behavior in solution. To assemble the molecule at a solid–liquid interface, we use proton diffusion from the bulk. The latter needs to be slower than the lag phase of nucleation to progressively grow a hydrogel outwards from the surface. Our method of surface‐assisted self‐assembly is generally applicable to other gelators, and can be used to create structured supramolecular materials.