Exfoliated sheets of MoS₂ trigger formation of aqueous gels with acute NIR light responsiveness

We have developed a unique class of MoS₂ entrapped aqueous gels where the exfoliated sheets trigger physical cross-linking of nanofibers of peptide amphiphiles. Strikingly, these aqueous gels show acute responsiveness towards near infra-red light (804 nm), an unprecedented observation for molecular hydrogels.