title: Post-self-assembly cross-linking of molecular nanofibers for oscillatory hydrogels.
abstract: After a polymerizable hydrogelator self-assembles in water to form molecular nanofibers, post-self-assembly cross-linking allows the catalyst of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction to be attached to the nanofibers, resulting in a hydrogel that exhibits concentration oscillations, spiral waves, and concentric waves. In addition to the first report of the observation of BZ spiral waves in a hydrogel that covalently integrates the catalyst, we suggest a new approach to developing active soft materials as chemical oscillators and for exploring the correlation between molecular structure and far-from-equilibrium dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, United States.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraden
authors.forename: Irving R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu