A multiple-responsive self-healing supramolecular polymer gel network based on multiple orthogonal interactions

Supramolecular polymer networks have attracted considerable attention not only due to their topological importance but also because they can show some fantastic properties such as stimuli-responsiveness and self-healing. Although various supramolecular networks are constructed by supramolecular chemists based on different non-covalent interactions, supramolecular polymer networks based on multiple orthogonal interactions are still rare. Here, a supramolecular polymer network is presented on the basis of the host-guest interactions between dibenzo-24-crown-8 (DB24C8) and dibenzylammonium salts (DBAS), the metal-ligand coordination interactions between terpyridine and Zn(OTf)₂, and between 1,2,3-triazole and PdCl₂(PhCN)₂. The topology of the networks can be easily tuned from monomer to main-chain supramolecular polymer and then to the supramolecular networks. This process is well studied by various characterization methods such as ¹H NMR, UV-vis, DOSY, viscosity, and rheological measurements. More importantly, a supramolecular gel is obtained at high concentrations of the supramolecular networks, which demonstrates both stimuli-responsiveness and self-healing properties. A supramolecular polymer gel network is constructed by three orthogonal non-covalent interactions: the host-guest interactions between dibenzo-24-crown-8 and dibenzylammonium salts, the metal-ligand coordination interactions between terpyridine and Zn(OTf)₂, and between 1,2,3-triazole and PdCl₂(PhCN)₂. The topology of the gel networks can be easily tuned from monomer to main-chain supramolecular polymer and then to supramolecular networks. The gel shows both multiple stimuli-responsiveness and self-healing properties.