Regulable Aggregation-Induced Emission Supramolecular Polymer and Gel Based on Self-sorting Assembly

Abstract

In this work, two TPE-bridged monomers M4 and N4, and a heteroditopic monomer AE were designed and synthesized. They could self-assemble by self-sorting mode to form supramolecular cross-linked alternating polymer. The process of supramolecular polymerization induced fluorescence emission enhancement on the basis of an AIE mechanism. Furthermore, the "off-on" switchable fluorescence emission could be achieved by adding-removing potassium ion from the solution of supramolecular polymer or heating−cooling method. At relatively high concentration, the supramolecular cross-linked polymer transformed into supramolecular gel and the obtained gel showed excellent self-healing capability and thermal reversibility.

Aggregation‐Induced Emission‐Active Gels: Fabrications, Functions, and Applications

“…The chemical structures of typical multicomponent LMWGs are shown in Figure . These typical multi‐component LMWGs are 174 + 177 , 175 + 177 and 176 + 177 , [ 159 ] 178 + 179 , [ 160 ] 178 + silver (Ag + ), [ 161 ] 180 + 181 , [ 162 ] 182 + 183 , [ 163 ] 184 + Zn 2+ , [ 164 ] 142 + 185 , [ 165 ] 142 + 186 , [ 166 ] 142 + 187 , [ 167 ] 188 + 189 and 190 + 189 , [ 168 ] 191 + 192 , [ 169 ] 193 + 194 , [ 170 ] 195 + 196 , [ 171 ] 195 + 197 , [ 172 ] 142 + 198 , [ 173 ] 199 + 200 + Zn 2+ , [ 174 ] 201 + α‐cyclodextrin (α‐CD), [ 175 ] 202 + 203 + 204 , [ 176 ] and 205 + 206 . [ 177 ] Information of the AIE‐active supramolecular gels from the above multicomponent LMWGs is also summarized in Table 5 .…”

Self-sorting assembly of artificial building blocks

“…Bai and co-workers designed a controllable decrease/ enhancement of the fluorescent system by an integrative social self-sorting network based on a typical aggregation-induced emissive molecule, tetraphenylethene (TPE), with a crown ether labelled on each phenyl group. 51 Through the addition or removal of K + , the self-sorting network could disassemble or re-form, accompanied with turning the fluorescence off/on. NOESY NMR was performed to demonstrate the formation of a supramolecular network.…”

Star‐Polymer–DNA Gels Showing Highly Predictable and Tunable Mechanical Responses

“…Several researchers have modified the end groups of star polymers with dynamic crosslinkers, such as metal-coordinate bonds [19,35,36] , dynamic covalent bonds [37][38][39][40][41] , and host-guest bonds [21,42] , to prepare homogeneous dynamically crosslinked gels. These gels exhibited an excellent one-to-one correspondence between the crosslinker lifetime and the gel stress relaxation time [37,40,41] .…”

“…Recent studies on covalently crosslinked gels have shown that network homogeneity can be substantially improved by using monodisperse star polymers as gel‐forming precursors. [ 31–34 ] Several researchers have modified the end groups of star polymers with dynamic crosslinkers, such as metal‐coordinate bonds, [ 19,35,36 ] dynamic covalent bonds, [ 37–41 ] and host–guest bonds, [ 21,42 ] to prepare homogeneous dynamically crosslinked gels. These gels exhibited an excellent one‐to‐one correspondence between the crosslinker lifetime and the gel stress‐relaxation time.…”