Hydrogels consisting of vesicles constructed via the self-assembly of a supermolecular complex formed from α-cyclodextrin and perfluorononanoic acid

The self-assembly of α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) mixed with a fluorocarbon surfactant, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), in aqueous solution was studied. Interestingly, the 1:1 inclusion complex, PFNA@-CD, was verified to form by 1H NMR measurement. And as the building block, PFNA@-CD complex further self-assembled into wormlike micelles under lower concentrations while hydrogels under higher concentrations. The hydrogels were composed of unilamellar vesicles with polydisperse size which was clearly detected by freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM) measurements. Besides, the vesicle hydrogels showed high viscoelasticities and a substantial elastic characteristic. And as revealed by the results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) measurements, the driving force for the vesicles and wormlike micelles formation was the hydrogen bonding between α-CD molecules. Then these vesicles were densely packed to form hydrogels. As far as we know, the self-assembly of CDs and fluorocarbon surfactants base...