Data from: Synergistic coassembly of two structurally different molecular gelators

Attached file provides supplementary data for linked article. Coassembly of molecules can produce materials with improved properties and functionalities. To this end, achieving a molecular level understanding of the interactions governing the coassembly is essential. In this work, two molecular gelators with significantly different structures and main intermolecular forces for assembly were coassembled. The elastic moduli of the hybrid gels are more than 1 order of magnitude higher than those of the gels formed by the individual gelators, showing an obvious synergistic effect. The interactions between the gelators were investigated with confocal microscopy and both one-dimensional and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. It was found that the two gelators coassemble to form fibers due to the nonspecific van der Waals interactions between their alkyl chains and the specific interactions between their functional groups. Switching from one gelator-dominated fiber network to the other gelator-dominated fiber network was achieved at a critical molar ratio of the gelators. The two gelators serve as additives of each other to tune the nucleation and growth of the fiber networks. The observations of this work are significant to the development of materials with improved properties by coassembly of different molecules.附件文件为关联文章提供补充数据。分子共组装（coassembly）可制备性能与功能均得到优化的材料。为此，从分子层面理解调控共组装过程的相互作用至关重要。本研究选取两种结构差异显著、组装所依赖的主要分子间作用力截然不同的分子凝胶因子（molecular gelators）进行共组装。复合凝胶的弹性模量（elastic moduli）较单一凝胶因子制备的凝胶高出一个数量级以上，展现出显著的协同效应（synergistic effect）。研究人员借助共聚焦显微镜（confocal microscopy）以及一维核磁共振（one-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, 1D NMR）、二维核磁共振（two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, 2D NMR）技术，对凝胶因子间的相互作用展开了系统探究。研究发现，得益于烷基链间的非特异性范德华相互作用（van der Waals interactions）与官能团间的特异性相互作用，两种凝胶因子可共组装形成纤维结构。当凝胶因子比例达到临界摩尔比时，可实现纤维网络从单一凝胶因子主导向另一凝胶因子主导的切换。两种凝胶因子可互为改性添加剂，以此调控纤维网络的成核（nucleation）与生长过程。本研究的观测结果，对于通过不同分子共组装开发性能优化的新型材料具有重要的指导价值。