Sonication induced morphological transformation between 3D gel network and globular structure in a two-component gelation system

A two-component gelator (B1⋯C12⋯B1) based on interaction between dendritic branch (Branch1 (COOH)) and diaminododecane is designed and synthesized, and its self-assembly behavior in methyl methacrylate (MMA) is firstly investigated. It is interesting to find that the gel formation depends on the concentration and sonication during cooling of the B1⋯C12⋯B1/MMA solution. Sonication plays as a switch simulator for exchanging morphology between a 3D gel network and globular structure in a certain concentration range. Thermal stability, rheological properties, morphology and self-assembly mechanism of the gels were investigated with tube inversion methodology, Dynamic oscillatory measurement, SEM and FTIR, respectively. The results indicated that Sonication-induced-gel (S-gel) exhibits much higher gel–sol temperature, storage modulus and lower critical gelator concentration compared with Temperature-induced-gel (T-gel), while sonication could partially destroy the hydrogen bond network and benefit the formation of the organogels.