Chandrasekharan SV, Krishnan N, Atchimnaidu S, Raj G, P. K. AK, Sagar S, Das S, Varghese R. Blue-emissive two-component supergelator with aggregation-induced enhanced emission.
RSC Adv 2021;
11:19856-19863. [PMID:
35479242 PMCID:
PMC9033671 DOI:
10.1039/d1ra03751j]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Two-component organogels offer several advantages over one-component gels, but their design is highly challenging. Hence, it is extremely important to design new approaches for the crafting of two-component organogels with interesting optical and mechanical properties. Herein, we report the design of a new class of two-component supergelators obtained from the assembly between acid functionalized tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-based dendrons and alkylated melamine. No gelation behaviour is observed for the individual components, but interestingly, remarkable gelation behaviour is observed for their hydrogen-bonded complex. The primary driving force responsible for the gelation is the strong π–π stacking interaction of TPE units. Because of the strong π-stacking of TPEs in the gel state, the C(sp2)–C(sp2) bond rotation of the TPE segment is completely arrested in the gel state, which results in intense fluorescence emission of the gels. Furthermore, excellent elastic response is observed for the gels as evident from their high storage modulus compared to loss modulus values. Our results clearly demonstrate that by the appropriate selection of the molecular components, this approach can be applied for the creation of functional nanomaterials with emergent properties absent in the individual blocks.
Design of a novel class of two-component, highly emissive, low molecular weight supergelator is reported.![]()
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