Issue 37, 2023

Chiral and conductive viologen-based supramolecular gels exhibiting tunable charge-transfer properties

Abstract

Redox-active conductive supramolecular gels involving highly ordered chiral assemblies of small organic molecules are very promising soft materials for many applications ranging from catalysis to electronics. However, combining all these properties in the same material has so far remained a difficult task. We now report the synthesis and detailed structural, rheological, and electrical characterizations of supramolecular gels obtained by self-assembly of a dicationic low molecular weight gelator incorporating a redox-active 4,4′-bipyridinium unit. These molecules have been shown to self-assemble in pentanol to form chiral hollow core–shell cylinders, eventually yielding dendritic clusters inducing gelation. We also showed that the optical, rheological, and electrical properties of the gels can be tuned by adding ionic additives. Careful control of the formation of charge-transfer complexes between viologens and iodides has led to the formation of robust, transparent, conductive, and chiral gel. The gelation process, the properties of the gel, and the structure of the assemblies have been thoroughly investigated by UV-Vis and ECD spectroscopy, rheometry, bright-field microscopy, SAXS, AFM, electrochemical and impedance measurements.

Graphical abstract: Chiral and conductive viologen-based supramolecular gels exhibiting tunable charge-transfer properties

  • This article is part of the themed collection: #MyFirstJMCC

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jun 2023
Accepted
24 Aug 2023
First published
04 Sep 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 12764-12775

Chiral and conductive viologen-based supramolecular gels exhibiting tunable charge-transfer properties

V. Andrieux, T. Gibaud, J. Bauland, T. Divoux, S. Manneville, S. Guy, A. Bensalah-Ledoux, L. Guy, F. Chevallier, D. Frath and C. Bucher, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 12764 DOI: 10.1039/D3TC02076B

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