Water-Regulated Self-Assembly Structure Transformation and Gelation Behavior Prediction Based on a Hydrazide Derivative.
Herein, we report the water-regulated supramolecular self-assembly structure transformation and the predictability of the gelation ability based on an azobenzene derivative bearing a hydrazide group, namely, N-(3,4,5-tributoxyphenyl)-N'-4-[(4-hydroxyphenyl)azophenyl] benzohydrazide (BNB-t4). The regulation effects are demonstrated in the morphological transformation from spherical to lamellar particles then back to spherical in different solvent ratios of n-propanol/water. The self-assembly behavior of BNB-t4 was characterized by minimum gelation concentration, microstructure, thermal, and mechanical stabilities. From the spectroscopy studies, it is suggested that gel formation of BNB-t4 is mainly driven by intermolecular hydrogen bonding, accompanied with the contribution from π-π stacking as well as hydrophobic interactions. The successfully established correlation between the self-assembly behavior and solubility parameters yields a facile way to predict the gelation performance of other molecules in other single or mixed solvents.
Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China.
Yajie
Y
Li
Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China. ranxia@henu.edu.cn.
Xia
X
Ran
Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China.
Qiuyue
Q
Li
Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China.
Qiongqiong
Q
Gao
Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China. juneguo@henu.edu.cn.
Lijun
L
Guo
gels; hydrazides; self-assembly; solubility; supramolecular chemistry