Preparation and Characterization of Binary Organogels via Some Azobenzene Amino Derivatives and Different Fatty Acids: Self-Assembly and Nanostructures

Haiying Guo,Tifeng Jiao,Xihai Shen,Qingrui Zhang,Adan Li,Faming Gao

doi:10.1155/2014/758765

Haiying Guo, Tifeng Jiao + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/758765

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Abstract

In present work the gelation behaviors of binary organogels composed of azobenzene amino derivatives and fatty acids with different alkyl chains in various organic solvents were designed and investigated. Their gelation behaviors in 20 solvents were tested as new binary organic gelators. It showed that the length of alkyl substituent chains and azobenzene segment have played a crucial role in the gelation behavior of all gelator mixtures in various organic solvents. Longer alkyl chains in molecular skeletons in present gelators are favorable for the gelation of organic solvents. Morphological studies revealed that the gelator molecules self-assemble into different aggregates from lamella, wrinkle, to belt with change of solvents. Spectral studies indicated that there existed different H-bond formation and hydrophobic force, depending on different substituent chains in molecular skeletons. The present work may also give new perspectives for designing new binary organogelators and soft materials.

Highlights

In recent years, organogels have been attracting more attention as one class of important soft materials, in which organic solvents are immobilized by gelators [1,2,3,4]
Gels are widely found in polymer systems, there has recently been an increasing interest in low-molecular-mass organic gelators (LMOGs) [5,6,7,8]
The gels based on LMOGs are usually considered as supramolecular gels, in which the gelator molecules selfassemble into three-dimensional networks in which the solvent is trapped via various noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, van der Waals interaction, dipole-dipole interaction, coordination, solvophobic interaction, and host-guest interaction [13,14,15,16]

Summary

Introduction

Organogels have been attracting more attention as one class of important soft materials, in which organic solvents are immobilized by gelators [1,2,3,4]. The gels based on LMOGs are usually considered as supramolecular gels, in which the gelator molecules selfassemble into three-dimensional networks in which the solvent is trapped via various noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, van der Waals interaction, dipole-dipole interaction, coordination, solvophobic interaction, and host-guest interaction [13,14,15,16] Such organogels have some advantages over polymer gels: the molecular structure of the gelator is defined and the gel process is usually reversible. Therein, we have investigated the spacer effect on the microstructures of such organogels and found that various kinds of hydrogen bond interactions among the molecules play an important role in the formation of gels In another relative research work, the gelation behaviors of some new azobenzene imide derivatives. We have investigated the effect of alkyl substituent chains in gelators on the microstructures of such organogels in detail and found different kinds of hydrogen bond interactions

Experiments

Results and Discussions

Conclusion