Heat-Set Supramolecular Hydrogelation by Regulating the Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance for a Tunable Circularly Polarized Luminescent Switch.

Heat-set supramolecular gels exhibited totally opposite phase behaviors of dissolution upon cooling and gelation on heating. They are commonly discovered by chance and their rational design remains a great challenge. Herein, a rational design strategy is proposed to realize heat-set supramolecular hydrogelation through regulation of the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of the system.

Spatially Confined Face-Selective Growth of Large-Area 2D Organic Molecular Crystals in a Supramolecular Gel for Highly Efficient Flexible Photodetection.

2D organic molecular crystals (2DOMCs) are promising materials for the fabrication of high-performance optoelectronic devices. However, the growth of organic molecules into 2DOMCs remains a challenge because of the difficulties in controlling their self-assembly with a preferential orientation in solution-process crystallization. Herein, fullerene is chosen as a model molecule to develop a supramolecular gel crystallization approach to grow large-area 2DOMCs by controlling the perfect arrangement on the {220} crystal plane with the assistance of a gelated solvent.

An -Carborane Derivative of Perylene Bisimide-Based Thin Film Displaying both Electrochromic and Electrofluorochromic Properties.

The widespread application in displays, information encryption, and sensors has boosted studies of electrochromic (EC) systems combining large contrast, fast response, high robustness, and low-cost properties. Herein, we report a film-type new EC system with a non-planar perylene bisimide-carborane derivative (PBI-CB) as the electroactive materials. It was revealed that the film demonstrated outstanding EC properties with response times of 1.

High-Performance Sensing of Formic Acid Vapor Enabled by a Newly Developed Nanofilm-Based Fluorescent Sensor.

Although it is widely used in industry and food products, formic acid can be dangerous owing to its corrosive properties. Accurate determination of formic acid would not only benefit its qualified uses but also be an effective way to avoid corrosion or injury from inhalation, swallowing, or touching. Herein, we present a nanofilm-based fluorescent sensor for formic acid vapor detection with a wide response range, fast response speed, and high sensitivity and selectivity.

High-Performance Ketone Sensing in Vapor Phase Enabled by -Carborane-Modified Cyclometalated Alkynyl-Gold(III) Complex-Based Fluorescent Films.

Development of high-performance, low-power-consumption, small-sized detectors is a key issue for fabricating specific miniaturized chromatographs (GCs). Herein, we report, for the first-time, utilization of a film-based fluorescent sensor as a GC detector. In the studies, we designed a new -carborane derivative of a known cyclometalated alkynyl-gold(III) complex, .

Synthesis of Silica Microspheres-Inspired by the Formation of Ice Crystals-With High Homogeneous Particle Sizes and Their Applications in Photonic Crystals.

Silica microspheres (SMs) must possess the performances of desirable monodispersity, narrow particle size distribution, and high sphericity for preparing photonic crystals (PCs) and other materials such as microspheres reference material, etc. We have adopted the techniques of increasing reactant concentration and raising the temperature to improve the synthesis rate of SMs, gaining inspiration from the formation mechanism of ice crystals. SMs with uniform particle sizes (polydispersity index less than 0.

A nanostructured Fc(COCH) film prepared using silica monolayer colloidal crystal templates and its electrochromic properties.

Since oxidation and reduction reactions mainly take place on surfaces, enlarging the specific surface of redox materials is the key to achieving excellent electrochemical performance. In this work, by using silica monolayer colloidal crystal templates (MCCTs), a nanostructured Fc(COCH) film is prepared successfully, and such a nanostructure could exhibit the following unique electrochemical properties: the MCCTs could impede the aggregation tendency of Fc(COCH) and possess high electrochemical activity; Fc(COCH) enlarges the contact area and offers more active sites and faster electronic transmission channels. The structure, optical and electrochemical properties of the nanostructured Fc(COCH) were tested and then compared with those of compact Fc(COCH) films to evaluate the role of the nanoarchitecture.