Freestanding organogels by molecular velcro of unsaturated amphiphiles

Vijai Shankar Balachandran, Kizhmuri P. Divya, Malick Samateh, Sai S. Sagiri, Sitakanta Satapathy, Padmanava Pradhan, Srinivasa R. Raghavan, Leela Rakesh, Michael S. Sellers, Shashi P. Karna, George John

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

A simple amphiphile, N-cardanyltaurine amide (NCT) with different degrees of cis-unsaturation in its tail resulted in the formation of strong organogels. Interestingly, this is in contrast to the commonly accepted notion that introducing unsaturation in alkyl chains enhances fluidity in lipid assemblies. The physico-chemical and first-principles DFT calculations confirmed the pegging of 'kinked' unsaturated side chains, where the hydrophobic interlocking as in Velcro fasteners leads to a network of cylindrical micelles, resulting in self-standing organogels. Textural profile analysis and spectroscopic details substantiated the dynamic assembly to resemble a 3D network of gelators rather than being a cross-linked or polymerized matrix of monomers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6263-6268
Number of pages6
JournalSoft Matter
Volume15
Issue number31
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

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