Simple preparation and characterization of viscoelastic gels induced by multiple intermolecular interactions using low-molecular-weight species

We report simple preparation of viscoelastic gels induced by multiple intermolecular interactions using low-molecularweight aromatic sulfonates and alkylammoniums in water. The flow properties of the gels could be controlled between viscoelastic gel to high-viscosity liquid by changing the number of sulfonates and the length of alkyl chain among the components. Rheology evaluations of these viscoelastic materials showed significant differences of G′ and G″ depending on the components. Also, spin-lattice relaxation, T1 in swollen-resin magic angle spinning 13C NMR well supported the differences of the viscoelastic gels in "hardness" according to the strength of hydrophobic interactions and π-π interactions contributed to the hydrogelation by alkyl chains and aromatic rings, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated a possibility for self-healing of a viscoelastic gel prepared with sodium 1,3,6-naphthalene trisulfonate and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide.