Transparency and AIE tunable supramolecular polymer hydrogel acts as TEA-HCl vapor controlled smart optical material

• Published in: Soft matter Vol. 16; no. 24; pp. 5734 - 5739
• Main Authors: Sun, Xiao-Wen, Wang, Zhong-Hui, Li, Ying-Jie, Yang, Hai-Long, Gong, Guan-Fei, Zhang, You-Ming, Yao, Hong, Wei, Tai-Bao, Lin, Qi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 24.06.2020
• Subjects: Ammonium; Fluorescence; Helper cells; Hydrochloric acid; Hydrogels; Light penetration; Lymphocytes T; Optical materials; Optical properties; Optics; Polymers; Smart materials; Stimuli; Supramolecular polymers; Transparence; Transparency; Triethylamine; Vapors; Windows (apertures); Xerogels
• ISSN: 1744-683X; 1744-6848
• DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00522c

Stimuli-responsive optical materials attract lots of attention due to their broad applications. Herein, a novel smart stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymer was successfully constructed using a simple tripodal quaternary ammonium-based gelator ( TH ). The TH self-assembles into a supramolecular polymer hydrogel ( TH-G ) and shows aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. Interestingly, the transparency and fluorescence of the TH-G xerogel film ( TH-GF ) could be reversibly regulated by use of triethylamine (TEA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) vapor. When alternately fumed with TEA and HCl vapor, the optical transmittance of the TH-GF was changed from 8.9% to 92.7%. Meanwhile, the fluorescence of the TH-G shows an "ON/OFF" switch. The reversible switching of the transparency and the fluorescence of the TH-GF is attributed to the assembly and disassembly of the supramolecular polymer TH-G . Based on these stimuli-response properties, the TH-GF could act as an optical material and shows potential applications as smart windows or fluorescent display material controlled by TEA and HCl vapor. A novel stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymer material was constructed by a tripodal gelator, which could act as an optical material and shows potential application in smart window or display materials, with TEA and HCl vapor treatment.