Boosting Supramolecular Gelation Efficiency and Properties: Ionic Strength as a Key to Superior Hydrogels.

Controlling the minimum gelation concentration (MGC) of low molecular weight (LMW) hydrogelators is a key for modulating gel properties, such as mechanical strength, viscoelasticity, and stability, which are crucial for applications ranging from drug delivery to tissue engineering. However, tweaking the MGC under specific conditions, such as pH and/or temperature, poses a considerable challenge. Herein, we varied the ionic strength of buffer solutions using NaCl for several LMW hydrogelators, including Fmoc-Phe, Fmoc-Tyr, Fmoc-Trp, Fmoc-Met, and Fmoc-Cha, and assessed their gelation efficiency at pH 7.