title: Longitudinal zipping/unzipping of self-assembled organic tubes.
abstract: Stimuli-responsive organic tubes are an attractive supramolecular assembly which has potential applications as a controlled release vehicle. We synthesize a smart organic tube by the coassembly of lithocholic acid (LCA) and taurolithocholic acid (TLCA) in aqueous solution. The coassembled LCA/TLCA tubes can be longitudinally unzipped into flat sheets by capillary force after being dehydrated on substrates. Consequently, the encapsulated guest molecules are released from the unzipping tubes. After the release of guest molecules, the flat sheets can be zipped back into hollow tubes upon hydration with aqueous solution. The zipping/unzipping LCA/TLCA tubes provide a new type of delivery vehicles, which may have potential for surface decontaminations.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, United States.
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tanmay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.forename: Wenlang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Jiyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D008095:Lithocholic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D013658:Taurolithocholic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013658:Taurolithocholic Acid; D008095:Lithocholic Acid