Advance in Multicomponent Supramolecular Gels

Dear Colleagues,

Supramolecular gels are constructed of precisely designed polymers or small molecules that are brought together by noncovalent interactions to form 3D entangled networks. Owing to the dynamic properties of the noncovalent interactions, stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels have prospered in the last decade, and have attracted increasing attention in the fields of environment remediation, biosensors, drug delivery, photoswitch, and self-healing materials. In addition, supramolecular gels formed via multicomponent self-assembled systems that undergo self-sorting and/or co-assembly introduce the opportunity to achieve sophisticated designs and functions. Multicomponent supramolecular self-assembly can be achieved to control the self-assembly process, and it provides the possibility to generate a wider and more complex structure, enhance modularity, and provide spatiotemporal control of self-assembly. In particular, multicomponent co-assembly allows for material integration at the molecular scale, enhancing the interfacial area between nanofibers, tunable mechanical properties, and the in situ formation of new materials and various morphologies.

Based on the great progress achieved in recent years in the field of multicomponent gels, we have organized this Special Issue on “Advance in Multicomponent Supramolecular Gels” with the aim to summarize  both original research articles and review papers on the most recent achievements in the multicomponent self-assembly of molecules, the tuning of morphology and functionality of multicomponent self-assembled systems, the new properties that have emerged from mixing, and the potential implications for the design of materials. We look forward to the submission of new results and reviews associated with multicomponent gels.

Dr. Liangchun Li
Dr. Renlin Zheng
Prof. Dr. Pablo H. Di Chenna
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• multicomponent gels
• smart gels
• stimuli-responsive gels
• tunable
• self-sorting
• oleogels
• hydrogels
• co-assembly