TY  - JOUR
A1  - Görl, Daniel
A1  - Soberats, Bartolome
A1  - Herbst, Stefanie
A1  - Stepanenko, Vladimir
A1  - Würthner, Frank
T1  - Perylene bisimide hydrogels and lyotropic liquid crystals with temperature-responsive color change
JF  - Chemical Science
N2  - The self-assembly of perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes bearing oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) units in water affords responsive functional nanostructures characterized by their lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Tuning of the LCST is realized by a supramolecular approach that relies on two structurally closely related PBI–OEG molecules. The two PBIs socially co-assemble in water and the resulting nanostructures exhibit a single LCST in between the transition temperatures of the aggregates formed by single components. This permits to precisely tune the transition from a hydrogel to a lyotropic liquid crystal state at temperatures between 26 and 51 °C by adjusting the molar fraction of the two PBIs. Owing to concomitant changes in PBI–PBI interactions this phase transition affords a pronounced color change with “fluorescence-on” response that can be utilized as a smart temperature sensory system.
KW  - perylene bisimide hydrogels
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-162459
VL  - 7
IS  - 11
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Grande, Vincenzo
A1  - Soberats, Bartolome
A1  - Herbst, Stefanie
A1  - Stepanenko, Vladimir
A1  - Würthner, Frank
T1  - Hydrogen-bonded perylene bisimide J-aggregate aqua material
N2  - A new twelvefold methoxy-triethyleneglycol-jacketed tetraphenoxy-perylene bisimide (MEG-PBI) amphiphile was synthesized that self-assembles into two types of supramolecular aggregates in water: red-coloured aggregates of low order and with weak exciton coupling among the PBIs and blue-coloured strongly coupled J-aggregates consisting of a highly ordered hydrogen-bonded triple helix of PBIs. At room temperature this PBI is miscible with water at any proportions which enables the development of robust dye aggregates in solution, in hydrogel states and in lyotropic liquid crystalline states. In the presence of 60–95 wt% water, self-standing coloured hydrogels exhibit colour changes from red to blue accompanied by a fluorescence light-up in the far-red region upon heating in the range of 30–50 °C. This phenomenon is triggered by an entropically driven temperature-induced hydrogen-bond-directed slipped stacking arrangement of the MEG-PBI chromophores within structurally well-defined J-aggregates. This versatile aqua material is the first example of a stable PBI J-aggregate in water. We anticipate that this study will open a new avenue for the development of biocompatible functional materials based on self-assembled dyes and inspire the construction of other hydrogen-bonded supramolecular materials in the highly competitive solvent water.
KW  - self-assembly
KW  - dyes
KW  - aqua material
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204715
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC02409J
SN  - 2041-6539
VL  - 9
ER  -