Langmuir 2007, 23, 8295-8298
8295
Gels from Mixed Ligand Silver(I) Carboxylates: A Promising Approach for Gel Formation Utilizing Surface Modifications Sungho Yoon,* Won Jong Kwon, Longhai Piao, and Sang-Ho Kim Nano-center, LG Chem Research Park, 104-1 Moonji-dong, Yuseong-gu Daejeon 305-380, Republic of Korea ReceiVed April 27, 2007. In Final Form: June 14, 2007 Mixtures of Ag(hexanoate) and Ag(palmitate) give thermoreversible gels at very low concentration in toluene. The framework of the gel is composed of the branched nanosized fibers, contrary to the microsized wire precipitates of silver(I) carboxylates. The randomness of mixed-ligand silver(I) carboxylate polymeric chains hinders the crystallization process, resulting in very thin fibrils. This may be a new approach to design and control the properties of materials, which do not have properties involving gels or nanostructures in a conventional process.
Introduction gelators1-10
Studies on organic-inorganic hybrid have increased in recent years because of the numerous potential applications of gel materials as well as different properties from the low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) of their separate parts.11-14 Such gelators include coordination polymer gelators (metallogelators) formed by metal ions interconnected through organic ligands.2-5 They are generally thermoreversible and are composed of low concentrations (typically
