25th Anniversary Article: Reversible and Adaptive Functional Supramolecular Materials: “Noncovalent Interaction” Matters

Abstract

Supramolecular materials held together by noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, host-guest interactions, and electrostatic interactions, have great potential in material science. The unique reversibility and adaptivity of noncovalent intreractions have brought about fascinating new functions that are not available by their covalent counterparts and have greatly enriched the realm of functional materials. This review article aims to highlight the very recent and important progresses in the area of functional supramoleuclar materials, focusing on adaptive mechanical materials, smart sensors with enhanced selectivity, soft luminescent and electronic nanomaterials, and biomimetic and biomedical materials with tailored structures and functions. We cannot write a complete account of all the interesting work in this area in one article, but we hope that it can in a way reflect the current situation and future trends in this prosperously developing area of functional supramolecular materials.

Structure and growth behavior of centimeter-sized helical oleate assemblies formed with assistance of medium-length carboxylic acids

“…[1][2][3] Research has focused on the spatiotemporal behavior of molecular assembly and, especially, the dynamics of these materials when utilized in life systems 4,5 and soft devices. 6,7 Various experimental and theoretical studies on assembly behavior have been reported and reviewed.…”

Deformable and Transparent Ionic and Electronic Conductors for Soft Energy Devices

“…[223,224] Extensive work has been done to demonstrate self-healing dielectric material [225] and gels, [226,227] however it is challenging to fabricate a self-healing current collector for the realization of a completely self-healing transparent and stretchable electronic device. It is extremely difficult to achieve selfhealing ability with electronic conductors.…”

“…Meanwhile, the ionic conductor can be easily tuned to repair itself while sustaining its transparency, stretchability, and ionic conductivity. One way to realize a self-healing ionic conductor is by using a polymer matrix comprised of bonds that are stable and reversible such as dynamic covalent bonds [223,224] and hydrogen bonds. [231,232] Cao et al reported highly self-healing STIC using ion-dipole interactions.…”

Supramolecular Interfacial Polymerization: A Controllable Method of Fabricating Supramolecular Polymeric Materials

“…Owing to the dynamic nature of the noncovalent interactions, supramolecular polymers exhibit unique properties such as reversibility, stimuli‐responsiveness, self‐healing, and good processability 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in developing methods of supramolecular polymerization, from spontaneous to controllable and living supramolecular polymerization 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38.…”