Supramolecular gels from bolaamphiphilic molecules

• Published in: Journal of molecular liquids 2024-01, Vol.394, p.123772, Article 123772
• Main Author: Sunil Singh, Rajkumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0167-7322; 1873-3166
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2023.123772

•Detailed review of bolaamphiphile gelators is presented.•Bolaamphiphile gelators are grouped under different structural classes for convenience.•Gelation properties and applications of the gels are highlighted. Developing new functional small-molecule gelators is an intensely pursued research area worldwide. These small-molecule gelators possess a molecular weight of less than 2000 Da and can form gels in many solvents, including water. The wide-ranging applications demonstrated in diverse settings make gels attractive to the scientific community. These include biomaterials, visual sensors, pollutant removal, stimuli-responsive materials, energy harvesting, nanocomposites, and many others. Most small-molecule gelators are derived from different types of carbohydrates, steroids, peptides, amino acids, nucleotides, macromolecules, and other molecular scaffolds. A sizeable number of reviews are available dealing with gelators derived from these common structural classes. However, a detailed review of another important structural class – amphiphilic gelators – has not been conducted till now. Therefore, in this review article, we focus on one type of amphiphilic gelator – bolamphiphilic gelators.