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Controlled Fabrication of Micropatterned Supramolecular Gels by Directed Self‐Assembly of Small Molecular Gelators
Author(s) -
Wang Yiming,
Oldenhof Sander,
Versluis Frank,
Shah Maulik,
Zhang Kai,
Steijn Volkert,
Guo Xuhong,
Eelkema Rienk,
Esch Jan H.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201804154
Subject(s) - micropatterning , microelectronics , materials science , supramolecular chemistry , self assembly , nanotechnology , acrylic acid , catalysis , chemical engineering , fabrication , molecule , copolymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer , composite material , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering
Herein, the micropatterning of supramolecular gels with oriented growth direction and controllable spatial dimensions by directing the self‐assembly of small molecular gelators is reported. This process is associated with an acid‐catalyzed formation of gelators from two soluble precursor molecules. To control the localized formation and self‐assembly of gelators, micropatterned poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) brushes are employed to create a local and controllable acidic environment. The results show that the gel formation can be well confined in the catalytic surface plane with dimensions ranging from micro‐ to centimeter. Furthermore, the gels show a preferential growth along the normal direction of the catalytic surface, and the thickness of the resultant gel patterns can be easily controlled by tuning the grafting density of PAA brushes. This work shows an effective “bottom‐up” strategy toward control over the spatial organization of materials and is expected to find promising applications in, e.g., microelectronics, tissue engineering, and biomedicine.