Pure Anisotropic Hydrogel with an Inherent Chiral Internal Structure Based on the Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystal Phase of Rodlike Viruses

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• 作者：Xiaodong Pei ; Tingting Zan ; Hengming Li ; Yingjun Chen ; Linqi Shi ; Zhenkun Zhang
• 刊名：ACS Macro Letters
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：November 17, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：4
• 期：11
• 页码：1215-1219
• 全文大小：352K
• ISSN：2161-1653

文摘

Imparting ordered structures into otherwise amorphous hydrogels is expected to endow these popular materials with novel multiple-stimuli responsiveness that promises many applications. The current contribution reports a method to fabricate pure polymeric hydrogels with an inherent chiral internal structure by templating on the chiral nematic liquid crystal phase of a rodlike virus. A method was developed to form macroscopically homogeneous chiral templates by confinement induced self-assembly in the presence of monomers, cross-linkers and initiators. Polymerization induced gelation was performed without perturbing the elegant 3D chiral organization of the rodlike virus bearing double bonds. Furthermore, a suitable method was found to remove the organic virus template while keeping the desired polymeric replica intact, resulting in a pure polymeric hydrogel with a unique internal chiral feature that originates from the 3D chiral ordering of the cylindrical pores left by the virus. Multiple-stimuli responsiveness has been demonstrated and can be quantified by the change of the pitch of the chiral feature. The chiral structure endows the otherwise featureless hydrogel with a unique material property that might be used as a readout signal for sensing and acts as the basis for responsive, biomimetic nanostructured materials.