Using natural processes as a guiding tool, scientific community is actively involved to achieve substantial advanvces at the interface of supramolecular chemistry and materials design. In this paper, we have...
A series of self‐assembling gluconamide conjugated naphthalimide amphiphiles (GCNA) was synthesized and the self‐assembly of GCNA into gel rendered an increased electron density in naphthalimide moiety with an overall change in energy of 15.33×10−32 J via J‐type aggregation. SEM analysis and X‐ray diffraction underpinning the nanofibrillar formation, and rheological measurements confirmed the processablity and material fabrication. The enriched electron density in the aggregated GCNA4 via cooperative intermolecular non‐covalent interactions makes it as effective electron donor in the fabrication of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). The TENG based on GCNA4‐polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) triboelectric pair generated an output voltage, current and power density of ∼250 V, 40 μA and ∼622 mW/m2 respectively, which is almost 2.4 times better in performance than the amorphous GCNA4 based TENG. The fabricated TENG can power‐up 240 LEDs, wrist watch, thermometer, calculator and hygrometer.
The inhalation, ingestion, and body absorption of noxious gases lead to severe tissue damage, ophthalmological issues, and neurodegenerative disorders; death may even occur when recognized too late. In particular, methanol gas present in traces can cause blindness, non-reversible organ failure, and even death. Even though ample materials are available for the detection of methanol in other alcoholic analogs at ppm level, their scope is very limited because of the use of either toxic or expensive raw materials or tedious fabrication procedures. In this paper, we report on a simple synthesis of fluorescent amphiphiles achieved using a starting material derived from renewable resources, this material being methyl ricinoleate in good yields. The newly synthesized bio-based amphiphiles were prone to form a gel in a broad range of solvents. The morphology of the gel and the molecular-level interaction involved in the self-assembly process were thoroughly investigated. Rheological studies were carried out to probe the stability, thermal processability, and thixotropic behavior. In order to evaluate the potential application of the self-assembled gel in the field of sensors, we performed sensor measurements. Interestingly, the twisted fibers derived from the molecular assembly could be able to display a stable and selective response towards methanol. We believe that the bottom-up assembled system holds great promise in the environmental, healthcare, medicine, and biological fields.
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