# Electron Responsive Viologen-Based Supramolecular Gels

Vivien Andrieux, Christophe Bucher, Floris Chevallier, Denis Frath, Thomas

Gibaud, Sébastien Manneville

► To cite this version:

Vivien Andrieux, Christophe Bucher, Floris Chevallier, Denis Frath, Thomas Gibaud, et al., Electron Responsive Viologen-Based Supramolecular Gels. Journées de Chimie Supramoleculaire, May 2022, Lyon, France. . hal-03828172

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Submitted on 25 Oct 2022

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Electron Responsive Viologen-Based Supramolecular Gels

Vivien Andrieux<fnref n="1" />, Christophe Bucher<fnref n="1" />, Floris Chevalier<fnref n="1" />, Denis Frath<fnref n="1" />,
Thomas Gibaud<fnref n="2" />, Sébastien Manneville<fnref n="2" />

vivien.andrieux@ens-lyon.fr

In a nutshell, a gel is a material in which a large amount of solvent is trapped in a
molecular network. In supramolecular gels, self-assembly of the network is achieved
by non-covalent interactions (π-π stacking, H-bonding, ion pairing, solvophobic
forces...) between low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs). Unlike polymeric
gelators LMWGs have a well-defined chemical structure, offering the possibility to
tune the material properties at the molecular level [1]. Stimuli responsive self-
assembled molecular materials are capable of changing their organization in response
to various stimuli (pH, T, P, magnetic field, light...). Such responsiveness has been
proved useful in numerous fields such as catalysis, smart materials, pollutant removal,
drug delivery system, development of sensors and memory devices [2]. However little
examples of electro-responsive supramolecular materials are to be found in the
literature [3]. The potential of such materials has recently been demonstrated through
the development of a gel-based memristor exploiting conductivity changes associated
to a sol/gel transition triggered by heating or DC bias [4]. Viologens carry much
interest for the development of new functional materials and have already shown
promising results for applications in molecular electronics [5]. We have recently
reported a supramolecular metallogel able to undergo a gel-sol transition triggered by
photo-reduction of its viologen moiety [6][7][8]. In the wake of this promising result
a previously described viologen based gelator [9] has been synthesized and its
gelation conditions have been investigated. Rheological and absorbance spectroscopy
measurements have shown that the gel properties where strongly dependent on the
ionic composition of the solvent, allowing the design of translucid and conductive
gels. First photoreduction trials have shown that the viologen based gelator could be
photoreduced in its gel state, giving a blue coloration to the material. A home-made
cell allowing multi-characterization of the gel redox-responsiveness is currently under
development and has shown promising results for the study of the gel electro-
responsiveness.

References:

[1] Panja S. & Adams D. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021, 50, 5165

[2] Wu et. al. J. Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1806204

[3] Guan et. al. Supramolecular Chemistry, 32:11, 578-596

[4] Zhang et. al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 41, 14406–14411

[5] Van Nguyen et. al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 10131

[6] Kahlfuss et. al. Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 13009 – 13019

[7] Chowdhury et. al. submitted, (arXiv:2106.15688)

[8] Clément Roizard et al 2022 ECS Adv

[9] Xue et. al. Chem. Mater. 2004, 16, 3702–3707

<footnote n="1">¹ Laboratoire de Chimie ENS de Lyon 46, allée d'Italie 69364 LYON CEDEX 07, France,</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Laboratoire de Physique ENS de Lyon 46, allée d'Italie 69364 LYON CEDEX 07, France</footnote>