文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Spatially Controlled Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Hydrogels Enabled by Light-Triggered Catalysis

作者：Zhang, Jiahao[1,2];Jin, Kaiyu[2];Xiao, Yichen[2];Feng, Yifei[2];Lu, Da[2];Chen, Mai[2];Sun, Mengran[2];Wang, Dengyu[1];Jin, Cheng[1];Li, Zhiling[1];Wang, Yiming[2,3]

机构：[1]Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Shanghai Childrens Med Ctr, Sch Med, Shanghai 200127, Peoples R China;[2]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Chem Engn, Shanghai 200237, Peoples R China;[3]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Shanghai Key Lab Intelligent Sensing & Detect Tech, Shanghai 200237, Peoples R China

年份：2025

卷号：46

期号：9

外文期刊名：MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS

收录：;EI(收录号：20250617836066);WOS:【SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:001416002600001)】；

基金：We acknowledge the financial support of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (YG2023LC13), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (23430761100), Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research (22TQ1400100-9), Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (22ZR1417700), Natural Science Foundation of China (21908061), and National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFD70050101).

语种：英文

外文关键词：directed self-assembly; hydrogels; low-molecular-weight gelators; patterning; supramolecular chemistry

摘要：Spatial control over supramolecular self-assembly prevails in living system, yet remains difficult to replicate in synthetic scenarios. Here, on the basis of a hydrazone formation-mediated supramolecular hydrogelation system, access to patterning of supramolecular hydrogels is demonstrated via a light-triggered catalysis strategy. A photoacid generator that can produce protons in aqueous solutions upon irradiation is employed. The generated protons lead to a drop in pH of around three units (initial pH 7.0), effectively accelerating the formation and self-assembly of the hydrazone gelators. Because of the light-triggered catalysis, the hydrogelation samples in the presence of photoacid generator show lower critical gelation concentration, higher stiffness, and denser networks. Importantly, by performing selective irradiation using differently shaped masks, various spatially resolved supramolecular hydrogels following the shapes of the masks are fabricated. The concept of using light-triggered catalysis to realize spatial control over supramolecular self-assembly provides an alternative approach toward bottom-up fabrication of structured soft materials for various applications such as tissue engineering, single cell manipulation, and biosensing.