Self-Regulating Supramolecular Hydrogel

Reversible Optical Activity Inversion

This gel undergoes gel-to-gel transformations with reversible inversion of optical activity between superhelical and single-helical structures, bypassing the sol phase entirely while maintaining macroscopic stability.

Li, Jingjing · Jianhong, Wang · Du, Huachuan · Xu, Fan · Meskers, Stefan C.J. · Yudong, Li · Wijker, Stefan · Peng, Yu · Vantomme, Ghislaine · Song, Jian · Meijer, E. W.

Journal of the American Chemical Society 2025

Advantages

Reversible inversion of optical activity

Direct gel-to-gel transformation without passing through a sol phase

Macroscopic stability maintained during transformations

Controlled switching of optical activity under autonomous pH regulation