A metal-organic gel based on Fe(iii) and bi-pyridine ligand for template synthesis of core/shell composite polymer nanowires

• Published in: Soft matter Vol. 14; no. 43; pp. 8764 - 8770
• Main Authors: Li, Botian, Xiao, Da, Deng, Dongsheng, Ye, Haimu, Zhou, Qiong, Tang, Liming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 07.11.2018
• Subjects: Ammonia; Chemical synthesis; Composite materials; Feasibility studies; Ferric nitrate; Gelation; Heat resistance; Iron; Ligands; Mechanical properties; Metals; Methylene bisacrylamide; Morphology; Nanofibers; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Nanowires; Polymer matrix composites; Polymerization; Polymers; Pyridines; Rheological properties; Selectivity; Self-assembly; Terephthalate; Thermal resistance
• ISSN: 1744-683X; 1744-6848
• DOI: 10.1039/c8sm01755g

In this study, a novel self-assembled metal-organic gel was synthesized from ferric nitrate and a di-topic ligand, bis(3-pyridyl)terephthalate. The gel consisted of a three dimensional network of uniform nanofibers. The gelation exhibited high selectivity to Fe(iii) based on metal-ligand coordination. The molar ratio of Fe3+ to ligand had a large influence on the assembly process and the morphology of the gel. The metallogel displayed multi-stimuli responsiveness and excellent heat resistance, thus was further applied as a thermo-stable template for the polymerization of N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide to produce the core/shell polymer composite nanowires. Subsequently, the polymer nanotubes were obtained after ammonia post-treatment, comfirming the feasibility of the template synthesis strategy. According to the rheological measurements, the gel-like products of the composite nanowires exhibited better mechanical strength compared to the gel template.