Abstract
The surface chemistry of the aggregated structures that form the scaffold in self-assembled hydrogels - their charge, hydrophobicity and ion-binding dynamics - plays an important role in determining the gel properties and the gel's suitability for specific applications. However, there are limited methods available for the study of this surface chemistry. Here, we show that electrochemical techniques can be used to measure the surface chemical properties of the self-assembled aggregate structures and also to determine the pKa of the gelators. We also provide a method to quickly determine whether a functionalised-dipeptide will form a gel or not. This method has scope for use in high-throughput screening and further complex pH-triggered self-assembled gelation systems.
Highlights
Low molecular weight gelators are molecules that self-assemble into one-dimensional aggregated structures, most commonly fibres.[1,2,3,4] Gels are formed when these fibres entangle and immobilise solvent
We have demonstrated how electrochemical techniques can be used to probe the surface chemistry of self-assembled hydrogel fibres including their charge and ion-binding dynamics
We developed a method to probe the real-time self-assembly kinetics of a functionalised-dipeptide using multiple pulse amperometry, rheology and pH evolution
Summary
Low molecular weight gelators are molecules that self-assemble into one-dimensional aggregated structures, most commonly fibres.[1,2,3,4] Gels are formed when these fibres entangle and immobilise solvent. We show that electrochemical techniques can be used to measure the surface chemical properties of the self-assembled aggregate structures and to determine the pKa of the gelators.
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