Unraveling the gallol-driven assembly mechanism of thermoreversible supramolecular hydrogels inspired by ascidians

WOLFEL, ALEXIS; EUTI, ESTEBAN M.; PICCHIO, MATÍAS L.; ROMERO, MARCELO R.; GALVÁN JOSA, VICTOR M.; MARTINELLI, MARISA; MINARI, ROQUE J.; ALVAREZ IGARZABAL, CECILIA I.

Polymer Chemistry

Royal Society of Chemistry

Año: 2020 vol. 11 p. 7185 - 7185

1759-9954

olyphenols-based supramolecular hydrogels have recently attracted much attention as smart materialsfor applications in several technologies. Although great advances have been made in this field, there is achallenging need for creating new versatile materials that combine synthesis simplicity and suitable functionalproperties. In this work, inspired by the hydrogen bonding ability of pyrogallol-bearing proteinsfound in ascidians, we explored a small gallol analog, gallic acid (GA), as a dynamic crosslinker of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The fundamentals of the supramolecular assembly mechanism of PVA/GA hydrogelsare studied for understanding the final properties of the obtained thermo-reversible hydrogels. Thepolymer deacetylation degree was a key factor to control the gelation kinetics, morphology, and propertiesof the supramolecular materials. Furthermore, the intercalation of GA molecules between PVAchains produced polymer crystals with a new spatial arrangement, modifying the elasti