Mouldable multicomponent low molecular weight supergelators

ABSTRACT

A significant drawback of gels formed from low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) is their typically poor mechanical stability due to the weak non-covalent interactions responsible for forming the gel. Here, we present a rare example of bicomponent gels prepared from LMWGs that show excellent mechanical stability even at <0.7 wt.% gelator loading. The gels can be moulded into any desired shape, without creep deformation. Dynamic diffusion of a guest, like β-carotene, from a spiked gel into its submerged solvent environment is explored through UV–vis spectrophotometry and NMR techniques, showing that the integrity of the gel network remains in the presence of the guest.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Low molecular weight gelators
• self-assembly
• multicomponent gels
• mechanically stable gels
• amino acid-based gel

Acknowledgments

M.J.M. thanks NSERC (CREATE NanoMat, Discovery Grant) for funding and the Canada Research Chair Program for support. We acknowledge the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) for infrastructure grants (JELF 34098, 38963). We thank BC Research Inc. for access to the rheometer.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supporting information

MGC and Tgel values; VT-NMR details; rheology data; UV–vis and NMR spectra for guest diffusion experiments; DOSY NMR spectra; temperature-dependent T₁ relaxation times.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10610278.2024.2356156.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation [JELF Grant 34098, 38963]; Canada Research Chairs [Canada Research Chairs]; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [Discovery Grant, CREATE NanoMat Grant].