Self-recovering stimuli-responsive macrocycle-equipped supramolecular ionogels with unusual mechanical properties

A chiral, crown-ether-functionalized bisurea gelator forms supramolecular gels in ionic liquids. The resulting ionogels show a remarkably high thermal stability with gel-sol transition temperatures (T(gs)) reaching more than 100 °C. The mechanical strength of these ionogels is surprisingly high and even comparable to that of cross-linked protein fibres. Furthermore, the ionogels exhibit rapid self-recovery properties after structural damage caused by deformation. Pseudorotaxanes form from the gelators' benzo[21]crown-7 ethers as the wheels and secondary ammonium ions as the axles despite the competition between that cation and the imidazolium ions of the ionic liquid for crown ether binding. Pseudorotaxane formation as an external chemical stimulus triggers the gel-sol transition of the ionogels.