Issue 5, 2024

Oligomer-assisted self-assembly of bisurea in organic solvent media

Abstract

We report on molecular dynamics simulation evidence revealing that an oligomer additive can be used to greatly facilitate the self-assembly of a bisurea in organic solvent media, through the initial regular packing and the subsequent stiffening of the self-assembly filament. The underlying physics is attributed to the substantially reduced diffusivities of the solute and, in particular, solvent molecules, featuring a generally weakened (thermal) Brownian force under ambient conditions. Without such oligomer-induced molecular cooling—in contrast to the usual external cooling, the original solvent medium is noted to foster instead more stabilized and disordered aggregates and, in particular, it would require a temperature reduction that is practically inaccessible in order to sustain similar stiffness of the self-assembly filament. These features, in accord with recent experimental observations, highlight the open opportunity of promoting the self-assembly of small functional molecules in general solvent media without requiring substantial changes of the system temperature, as is crucial for many practical applications including the biological/biomedical ones.

Graphical abstract: Oligomer-assisted self-assembly of bisurea in organic solvent media

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 sep 2023
Accepted
02 nov 2023
First published
02 nov 2023

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 3810-3814

Oligomer-assisted self-assembly of bisurea in organic solvent media

C. Wu, L. Huang and C. Hua, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 3810 DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04464E

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