Controlled fabrication of micropatterned supramolecular gels by directed self-assembly of small molecular gelators

Journal Article (2019)
Author(s)

Yiming Wang (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

Sander Oldenhof (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

Frank Versluis (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

M.S. Shah (TU Delft - ChemE/Product and Process Engineering)

K. Zhang (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

V. Van Steijn (TU Delft - ChemE/Product and Process Engineering, TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

Xuhong Guo (East China University of Science and Technology)

R Eelkema (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

Jan van Esch (TU Delft - ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter)

Research Group
ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201804154
More Info
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Publication Year
2019
Language
English
Research Group
ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter
Issue number
8
Volume number
15

Abstract

Herein, the micropatterning of supramolecular gels with oriented growth direction and controllable spatial dimensions by directing the self-assembly of small molecular gelators is reported. This process is associated with an acid-catalyzed formation of gelators from two soluble precursor molecules. To control the localized formation and self-assembly of gelators, micropatterned poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) brushes are employed to create a local and controllable acidic environment. The results show that the gel formation can be well confined in the catalytic surface plane with dimensions ranging from micro- to centimeter. Furthermore, the gels show a preferential growth along the normal direction of the catalytic surface, and the thickness of the resultant gel patterns can be easily controlled by tuning the grafting density of PAA brushes. This work shows an effective “bottom-up” strategy toward control over the spatial organization of materials and is expected to find promising applications in, e.g., microelectronics, tissue engineering, and biomedicine.

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