Self-assembly of dyes in aqueous media has attracted a great deal of attention for the development of biocompatible sensors and stimuli responsive photoactive materials. We recently focus on the elucidation of the self-assembly pathways in water of bolamphiphilic perylene bisimide (PBIs) dyes bearing oligoethylene glycol (OEG) groups (Figure 1a). The self-assembly of these PBIs is not directed by enthalpic factors, but is driven by the entropic release of water molecules from the OEG units (Figure 1a). The entropic nature of self-assembly in water is characterized by an inverse temperature response which induces lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phenomena, where the solution phase separates at a particular temperature upon heating. In this work, we developed a supramolecular approach to adjust the LCST of PBI-water mixtures (Figure 1a). Furthermore, based on this concept, we prepared stimuli responsive hydrogels that undergo a color change triggered by the LCST phase transition between a hydrogel state and a lyotropic liquid crystalline state (Figure 1b).

Perylene bisimide aggregation in water: Self-assembly features and development of stimuli responsive materials

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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