Gelation of fluids by a limited amount (typically 1 weight % or less) of a low molecular weight gelator (LMWG) is possible if the LMWG self-assembles into elongated fibrillar structures, which form an entangled network. In spite of their non-covalent nature, such nanostructures were shown to be strong enough to block the flow of liquids, and even to improve the mechanical properties of solids such as bitumen.1 Potentially these materials can be used in numerous applications, such as tissue engineering, sensors, pollutant removal, or as templates for nanoparticles and hybrid materials. However, the design of an entirely new gelator molecule for a particular application (i.e. in a particular solvent) is a difficult task. In fact, the large body of experimental data accumulated over the years should now allow a different approach. Indeed, if one wants to gelate a common organic solvent, it is straightforward to search the literature and find compounds that have been described to form gels in this particular solvent. Of course, for many applications, the fluid of interest (edible oil, cosmetic formulation, solvent mixture for coatings, �) may not have been tested. Therefore, one needs guiding principles to predict if a previously described compound will gelate a given fluid, based on its known ability to gelate a range of more or less similar fluids. Prior attempts to rationalize the gelling power of a LMWG have been proposed based on various solubility indicators (dielectric constant, ET polarity scale, Hildebrandt solubility parameter, Kamlet-Taft parameters, Hansen solubility parameters). Up to now, each of these attempts was focused on a particular LMWG family, and while the conclusions are of interest, they cannot be extended to other LMWGs.We presently report a general solubility parameter approach to predict the gelling ability of any compound based on its behaviour in a limited set of solvents.2,3 References1. B. Isare, L. Petit, E. Bugnet, R. Vincent, L. Lapalu, P. Sautet, L. Bouteiller 'The weak help the strong: low molar mass organogelators harden bitumen' Langmuir, 25, 8400-8403, 20092. M. Raynal, L. Bouteiller 'Organogel formation rationalized by Hansen solubility parameters' Chem. Commun., 47, 8271-8273, 2011 3. J. Bonnet, G. Suissa, M. Raynal, L. Bouteiller �Organogel formation rationalized by Hansen solubility parameters: do's and don'ts� submitted.

Organogel formation rationalized by Hansen solubility parameters

247th National Meeting (2014)

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