TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-Assembly of Photoresponsive Molecular Amphiphiles in Aqueous Media
AU - Chen, Shaoyu
AU - Costil, Romain
AU - Leung, Franco King Chi
AU - Feringa, Ben L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported financially by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201706790063 to S.Y.C.), the Croucher Foundation (Croucher Startup Allowance to F.K.C.L.), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO‐CW), the European Research Council (ERC; Advanced Grant No. 694345 to B.L.F.), the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Gravitation Program No. 024.001.035). The authors thanks Qian Wang for designing and drawing the frontispiece graphic.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - Amphiphilic molecules, comprising hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties and the intrinsic propensity to self-assemble in aqueous environment, sustain a fascinating spectrum of structures and functions ranging from biological membranes to ordinary soap. Facing the challenge to design responsive, adaptive, and out-of-equilibrium systems in water, the incorporation of photoresponsive motifs in amphiphilic molecular structures offers ample opportunity to design supramolecular systems that enables functional responses in water in a non-invasive way using light. Here, we discuss the design of photoresponsive molecular amphiphiles, their self-assembled structures in aqueous media and at air–water interfaces, and various approaches to arrive at adaptive and dynamic functions in isotropic and anisotropic systems, including motion at the air–water interface, foam formation, reversible nanoscale assembly, and artificial muscle function. Controlling the delicate interplay of structural design, self-assembling conditions and external stimuli, these responsive amphiphiles open several avenues towards application such as soft adaptive materials, controlled delivery or soft actuators, bridging a gap between artificial and natural dynamic systems.
AB - Amphiphilic molecules, comprising hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties and the intrinsic propensity to self-assemble in aqueous environment, sustain a fascinating spectrum of structures and functions ranging from biological membranes to ordinary soap. Facing the challenge to design responsive, adaptive, and out-of-equilibrium systems in water, the incorporation of photoresponsive motifs in amphiphilic molecular structures offers ample opportunity to design supramolecular systems that enables functional responses in water in a non-invasive way using light. Here, we discuss the design of photoresponsive molecular amphiphiles, their self-assembled structures in aqueous media and at air–water interfaces, and various approaches to arrive at adaptive and dynamic functions in isotropic and anisotropic systems, including motion at the air–water interface, foam formation, reversible nanoscale assembly, and artificial muscle function. Controlling the delicate interplay of structural design, self-assembling conditions and external stimuli, these responsive amphiphiles open several avenues towards application such as soft adaptive materials, controlled delivery or soft actuators, bridging a gap between artificial and natural dynamic systems.
KW - aqueous medium
KW - photoresponsive amphiphile
KW - responsive foam
KW - soft material
KW - supramolecular assembly
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098019394&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/anie.202007693
DO - 10.1002/anie.202007693
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85098019394
SN - 1433-7851
VL - 60
SP - 11604
EP - 11627
JO - Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
JF - Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
IS - 21
ER -