Janus Dendrimer from Poly(Aryl Ether) Linked PAMAM for Supergelation and Guest Release

Abstract

AbstractThe present work reports an easy‐to‐make procedure of Janus dendrimers containing two most widely used dendrons [poly(aryl ether) and poly(amido amine) {PAMAM}], and utilize them, for the first time, to form a hydrogel with supergelation ability. The first generation (G1G1) Janus dendrimer forms hydrogel with a critical gelation concentration (CGC) of 6.5 mg/mL, whereas the CGC for G1G1.5 dendrimer went as low as 0.90 mg/mL in DMSO‐H2O mixture. Judicious choice of solvent medium (ethanol‐water) led to the formation of flexible morphology (long fibres to vesicles) by the Janus dendrimers, suggesting the possibility of tuning the mechanism of self‐assembly in the system. The dye (rhodamine B) loading efficiency in the gel was successfully carried out using different generations {G1G1 and G1G1.5} of the Janus dendrimer. Generation G1G1 hydrogel (1 wt%) showed maximum dye loading efficiency of 4 mg/mL. Rhodamine B release profiles from the Janus dendrimers were determined and the results indicate that slow release kinetics was observed in the case of G1G1, where the self‐assembly is robust.