Macrocycle Self-Assembly Hydrogel for High-Efficient Oil-Water Separation.

Abstract

Supramolecular hydrogels involved macrocycles have been explored widely in recent years, but it remains challenging to develop hydrogel based on solitary macrocycle with super gelation capability. Here, the construction of lantern[3₃ ]arene-based hydrogel with low critical gelation concentration (0.05 wt%), which can be used for efficient oil-water separation, is reported. The lantern[3₃ ]arenes self-assemble into hydrogen-bonded organic nanoribbons, which intertwine into entangled fibers to form hydrogel. This hydrogel which exhibits reversible pH-responsiveness characteristics can be coated on stainless-steel mesh by in situ sol-gel transformation. The resultant mesh exhibits excellent oil-water separation efficiency (>99%) and flux (>6 × 10⁴ L m^-2 h^-1 ). This lantern[3₃ ]arene-based hydrogel not only sheds additional light on the gelation mechanisms for supramolecular hydrogels, but also extends the application of macrocycle-based hydrogels as functional interfacial materials.