Water-Induced Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Discotic Molecules for Adaptive Artificial Water Channels
Journal
ACS nano
Journal Volume
15
Journal Issue
9
Pages
14885
Date Issued
2021-09-28
Author(s)
Chang, Hsi-Yen
Wu, Kuan-Yi
Chen, Wei-Chun
Weng, Jing-Ting
Chen, Chin-Yi
Raj, Ankit
Hamaguchi, Hiro-O
Chuang, Wei-Tsung
Wang, Xiaosong
Abstract
Inspired by the induced-fit mechanism in nature, we developed the process of water-induced self-assembly (WISA) to make water an active substrate that regulates the self-assembly and function of amphiphilic discotic molecules (ADMs). The ADM is an isotropic liquid that self-assembles only when in contact with water. Characterization results indicate that water fits into the hydrophilic core of the ADMs and induces the formation of a hexagonal columnar phase (Colh), where each column contains a hydrated artificial water channel (AWC). The hydrated AWCs are adaptive rather than static; the dynamic incorporation/removal of water results in the reversible assembly/disassembly of the adaptive AWCs (aAWCs). Furthermore, its dynamic characteristics can enable water to act as an orientation-directional guest molecule that controls the growth direction of the aAWCs. Well-aligned aAWC arrays that showed the ability of water transport were obtained via a "directional WISA" method. In WISA, water thus governs the supramolecular chemistry and function of synthetic molecules as it does with natural materials. By making water an active component in adaptive chemistry and enabling host molecules to dynamically interact with water, this adaptive aquatic material may motivate the development of synthetic molecules further toward biomaterials.
Subjects
adaptive self-assembly; amphiphiles; artificial water channels; discotic liquid crystals; induced-fit mechanism; supramolecular chemistry
SDGs
Type
journal article