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Simple preparation of supramolecular polymer gels via hydrogen bondingby blending two liquid polymers†
Atsushi Noro,* Mikihiro Hayashi, Akihisa Ohshika and Yushu Matsushita*
Received 17th November 2010, Accepted 10th December 2010
DOI: 10.1039/c0sm01334j

Preparation of supramolecular polymer gels based on simple
molecular design was demonstrated by blending carboxyl-terminated telechelic polymers and poly(ethyleneimine), where balance ofan attractive force due to hydrogen bonding and a repulsive force
induced by phase separation between polymers has been found as
a key factor of supramolecular gelation.
Polymer gels have been attaining more and more attention as
attractive and versatile soft materials. They have been used in ourdaily lives such as in cosmetics, contact lenses, etc., and are also
expected to be developed for high-tech applications.1 ‘‘Supramolecular polymer gels2,3 (or it could be called supramacromolecular gels)’’,as in one category of physical gels, would have three-dimensionaltransient networks (or supramolecular networks) of polymers at themolecular level, which could be formed by designed building blocks
with complementary non-covalent bonding units. Because of theweak association strength at cross-links with a finite lifetime, supramolecular polymer gels exhibit unique features such as self-healing4
and stimuli-responsiveness3,5 originated from the network structure.6,7
Taking account of two essential components of a bridging strand
and a cross-link to build up a supramolecular network of polymers,
Meijer and Sijbesma et al. prepared supramolecular polymer gels
via hydrogen bonding from a simple trifunctional copolymer withureidopyrimidone units on polymer ends.8 Another tactic to build up
supramolecular networks of polymers is to blend two building blocks:
a telechelic polymer as a bridging strand and a multifunctional
polymer (or oligomer) as a multifunctional cross-linker.3,5,9 Sucha supramolecular network formed by the latter tactics usuallycontains a large amount of solvents, which is beneficial to producing
their unique physical properties; however, the use of solvents lowers
the modulus of the gels,3,10 in other words, resulting in insufficientmechanical strength for applications. If supramolecular polymer gelsin bulk with good mechanical properties can be attained by an easy
preparation procedure, it is attractive and useful for practical applications of supramolecular polymer gels.
Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering,
Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.
E-mail: yushu@apchem.nagoya-u.ac.jp; noro@nagoya-u.jp; Fax: +81-52789-3210† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental
details and additional data of SEC, NMR, IR, rheology, DSC, SAXS,
and optical images. See DOI: 10.1039/c0sm01334j

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

In this communication, we present a preparation procedure ofbulk supramolecular polymer gels via hydrogen bonding based on
simple molecular design, which could possess supramolecularpolymer networks at the molecular level as in Fig. 1. To build up
supramolecular polymer gels, carboxyl-terminated telechelic poly
(ethyl acrylate) (PEA–(COOH)2) and poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI)
were used as building blocks of a bridging strand and a cross-linker,respectively. PEA–(COOH)2 was synthesized via reversible addition–
fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization by using thedifunctional chain transfer agent with two carboxylic acids,
S,S0 -bis(a,a0 -dimethyl-a00 -acetic acid)trithiocarbonate (see ESI†).11The polydispersity index of the polymer was measured to be around
1.2 by size exclusion chromatography. The number-averagemolecular weight of PEA–(COOH)2 was determined to be 9000 by
1
H NMR (Varian) end-group analysis. On the other hand, PEI(Mn z 1200, Mw z 1300) was supplied from Aldrich, which iscommercially available.
Preparation of supramolecular polymer gels was carried out by
blending solutions of the above two polymers, followed by drying themixture solutions at 50  C in vacuo. A solvent used for solution
preparation is a mixed solvent of THF/MeOH (5 : 5 by volume). The
weight ratio of PEA–(COOH)2 : PEI in the blends was varied as
10 : X, where five samples with X of 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, and 3 wereprepared in total. The blends were coded as AI-10 : X.
Fig. 2 displays optical images of all AI-10 : X blends. When theX value (the amount of PEI) is smaller than unity as AI-10 : 0.5 andAI-10 : 0.75, the samples look like homogeneous liquids and possess
fluidity. This is because PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI have low Tgs asshown in Fig. 1 (Tg(PEA–(COOH)2) z 19  C, Tg(PEI) z 57  C,see also Fig. S9 and S10†). At the X value of unity, however, theblend represents a non-liquid-like state at room temperature,
substantially forms a gel, regardless of the fact that both PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI are liquids at room temperature (see the centre
vial in Fig. 2). As the X value increases further, the blends still keepa gel state but become cloudy or turbid.
To clarify the origin of gelation behavior of the blends at themolecular level, a FT-IR spectrum was obtained at room temperature
as shown in Fig. S3†, which revealed hydrogen bonding between theamine on PEI and the carboxylic acid on both ends of PEA–(COOH)2.
Needless to state that hydrogen bonding between carboxylic acidand amine plays an essential role for supramolecular gelation inthese blends,12 it must be noted that phase-separation between
PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI also plays an important role for thisSoft Matter, 2011, 7, 1667–1670 | 1667

Fig. 2 Optical images of five blends of AI-10 : X (X ¼ 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, and3). The blends were displayed in the order of X value from left to right.
Gels were not formed at small amount of PEI for X ¼ 0.5 or 0.75. At theoptimum amount of PEI (X ¼ 1), however, homogeneous and transparent gels were formed. A gel state had been kept up to large amount ofPEI (X ¼ 2, 3), though the appearance of cloudiness or turbidity isevident.

Fig. 1 Schematic illustrations of a model supramolecular network ofpolymers via hydrogen bonding (c) comprised of PEA–(COOH)2 as pink
bridging strands with carboxyl groups at both ends (a) and PEI as green
multifunctional cross-linkers with many amino groups (b). Both neat
PEA–(COOH)2 and neat PEI are liquids at room temperature shown as
photographs in (a) and (b). PEI could form a spherical cross-link phaseby a moderate repulsive force against PEA–(COOH)2 as shown in (c).
This is the most simplified model supramolecular network excluding anyother chains and cross-links. Furthermore, possible looping pink PEA
chains were also omitted in the supramolecular network for clarity.

supramolecular gelation, as we clearly recognize phase separation as
turbidity in Fig. 2. As is supported in Fig. S11†, small-angle X-ray
scattering (SAXS) profiles were compared among AI-10 : 1 andtheir components, PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI, at room temperature.
AI-10 : 1 shows one broad peak at 1.3 nm1, which cannot be usuallyseen in immiscible polymer blends, while neat PEA–(COOH)2and neat PEI did not show any scattering peaks.13 This suggeststhat there exists at least a correlation of electron density between
PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI with the length scale of several nanometres,
which might be originated from nanophase-separation betweena cross-link phase of PEI and a matrix phase of PEA–(COOH)2. This
speculation about phase-separation could also be supported by ourprevious studies on supramolecular polymer gels in an ionic liquid.3 It
can be safely stated that the determinant for this gelation is not only
an attractive force of hydrogen bonding but also a repulsive force
induced by phase separation. Since the molar amount of amine ismuch larger (four times larger) than that of carboxylic acid even atliquid-like AI-10 : 0.5, the stoichiometry of a hydrogen bonding pair
1668 | Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 1667–1670

between carboxylic acid and amine is not regarded as an importantfactor for this gelation.
We also investigated the viscoelastic properties of bulk supramolecular polymer gels. Dynamic shear measurements for AI-10 : 1
were carried out on an ARES-G2 rheometer (TA Instruments) bychanging the temperature as shown in Fig. 3a. The elastic modulus(G0 ) is less than the viscous modulus (G00 ) at higher temperatures than23  C, which indicates liquid-like behavior of the blend in thistemperature range (see also an image at the right inset in Fig. 3a);however, G0 has the same value as G00 at 23  C. Then G0 becomeslarger than G00 (G0 > G00 ) at lower temperatures and the value ofG0 shows approximately 1 MPa (see also an image at the left inset in
Fig. 3a). The G0 value of 1 MPa points out that the gel is much
more robust against stress than 10 wt% supramolecular polymer gelsin solvents (plateau modulus Gx z 3 kPa).3 The crossover at 23  C
could also be regarded as a gel transition temperature (Tgel), which iseasily accessible from room temperature, suggesting easy processability. Neat PEA–(COOH)2 without PEI did not show such

Fig. 3 Elastic (B) and viscous (,) moduli as a function of temperature
at a frequency of 0.3 rad s1: (a) AI-10 : 1 at a strain of 0.5% and (b) neat
PEA–(COOH)2 at a strain of 30%. Temperature ramp tests for bothsamples were run in the linear viscoelastic regime. The insets are opticalimages at the corresponding temperatures.

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

a crossover even at 10  C, representing liquid behavior in thistemperature range as is recognized in the inset of Fig. 3b. The gel ofAI-10 : 1 has also been found rheologically thermoreversible by bothupon cooling and heating (Fig. S4†), suggesting that the gels were notformed by irreversible chemical bonds but thermoreversible hydrogenbonds between carboxylic acid and amine.
We further examined to prepare supramolecular polymer gels
via hydrogen bonding by blending two commercially available liquidpolymers. Carboxyl-terminated telechelic polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS–(COOH)2), which was kindly provided by Shin-Etsu
Chemical Co., Ltd. (Mn z 4600, product code: X-22-162C), wasblended with PEI in a mixed solvent of THF/MeOH (6 : 4 byvolume) by varying the weight ratio of PDMS–(COOH)2 : PEI as
10 : Y (Y ¼ 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5), and the blend solutions weredried in vacuo at 50  C. Cloudy gels were formed at Y ¼ 0.3, 0.4, and0.5 as shown in Fig. 4b probably due to both hydrogen bonding andphase separation. Additionally, blends had a yellow colour, eventhough the two components, PDMS–(COOH)2 and PEI, were bothalmost colourless liquids as displayed in the inset of Fig. 4c. This
figure shows a UV-vis spectrum of an 8 wt% solution of the blend
with a weight ratio of 10 : 0.1 in THF/MeOH, having an absorption
peak at 385 nm with the tail up to 460 nm, which ensures theappearance of a yellow colour. Note the blends of methyl-terminatedtelechelic polydimethylsiloxane (code: KF-96-50c) and PEI did notform gels nor provide any colour because of no hydrogen bondingformation (see Fig. S14 and S15†). These suggest the yellow colour
should be originated from the red shift of the absorption band due tohydrogen bonding between carboxylic acid on each end of thePDMS–(COOH)2 and many amino groups on PEI even at 10 : 0.1,
where the blend was still at a liquid-state. This also indicates thatphase separation, which can be easily noticed by turbidity in three
blends of PDMS–(COOH)2/PEI with Z ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, is also
another key of supramolecular gelation together with hydrogenbonding.
In conclusion, we have prepared supramolecular polymer gelscomposed of PEA–(COOH)2 and PEI via hydrogen bonding bya simple preparation procedure. The determinant of this supramolecular gelation is not only hydrogen bonding between two polymers
but also a repulsive force induced by phase separation between them,
resulting in evident turbidity of solutions at a higher amount of PEI.
The modulus of the gel has a much higher value than that of a gel ina solvent, and the Tgel is found around room temperature, both ofwhich indicate good mechanical properties and processability. Blendsof two commercially available liquid polymers such as PDMS–(COOH)2 and PEI also provided cloudy supramolecular gels at
a higher amount of PEI, suggesting this preparation procedure
should be universal and useful in practical uses.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank Mr Kanai, Mr Takenoshita, Mr Aikawa, and Mr
Oniyama at TA Instruments, Japan for their kind help of rheologicalmeasurements with an ARES-G2 rheometer. The authors also thankProf. H. Watanabe at Kyoto University for his suggestions about
dynamic shear measurements, and Mr T. Hikage at High Intensity
X-ray Diffraction Laboratory in Nagoya University for his assistancein measuring X-ray scattering. The authors are grateful to Shin-Etsu
Chemical Co. Ltd. for supply of telechelic polydimethylsiloxanes.
This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)(no. 21750217 for A.N.) and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(no. 18068008 and no. 22245038 for Y.M.) from MEXT, Japan. This
work was also supported by the Global COE Program in Chemistryat Nagoya University.

Notes and references

Fig. 4 (a) Chemical structures of PDMS–(COOH)2. (b) Optical images offive blends of PDMS–(COOH)2/PEI with a weight ratio of 10 : Z (Z ¼ 0.1,0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5), which were displayed in order of Z value from left toright. (c) UV-vis spectra of a PDMS–(COOH)2/PEI blend (Z ¼ 0.1)
solution (solid line), a PDMS–(COOH)2 solution (dashed line), anda PEI solution (dotted line). The solvent used for measurements was
THF/MeOH (6 : 4) and the concentration of solutions was approximately
8 wt%. The instrument used for measurements was a UV-VIS spectrometer
UV-2550 (Shimadzu, Japan). The image provided as inset shows solutionsof the blend, PDMS–(COOH)2, and PEI from left to right.

This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

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