Chemically Tunable Supramolecular Gels

凝胶是一种迷人的现代材料，它是由纤维网络捕获液体甚至气体而产生的。这种网络通常由聚合物组成，但最近的研究表明，更通用的凝胶可以从分子系统中产生，这些分子系统通过相互作用（如氢键）形成延伸链。我们建议通过使用氢键相互作用、与金属离子的相互作用和与阴离子的相互作用来制造更通用的凝胶系统。因为我们的新凝胶是复合材料，组分之间的相互作用相对较弱，我们可以通过改变金属或阴离子来改变凝胶的组成。结果应影响凝胶的流动能力。我们对我们的小凝胶分子与金属和阴离子相互作用的方式有很好的了解，因此能够很好地理解凝胶纤维的结构，并将一系列现代方法应用于该问题。这将允许设计师凝胶在凝胶相聚合或其他催化过程和纳米颗粒合成中的应用。它还可能导致具有化学触发流动特性的材料的未预见的技术应用。

Gels are fascinating modern materials that arise from the trapping of liquids or even gases by a fibrous network. This network is usually made up of polymers but recent research has shown that much more versatile gels can arise from molecular systems that form extended strands vis interactions such as hydrogen bonding. We are proposing to make a system of gels that is more versatile still through the use of both hydrogen bonding interactions, interactions to metal ions and interactions to anions. Because our new gels are composite materials and the interactions between the components are relatively weak we can readily change the composition of the gel by changing metal or anion. The result should impact on the the gel's abilty to flow. We have a good understanding of the way our small gelling molecules interact with metals and anions and so are in a good position to understand the structure of the gel fibres and will apply a range of modern methods to the problem. This will allow designer gels with applications in gel-phase polymerisation or other catalytic processes and nanoparticle synthesis. It may also result in unfoseen technological applications of materials with chemically triggered flow characteristics.