Using Rheology to Understand Transient and Dynamic Gels

Supramolecular gels can be designed such that pre-determined changes in state occur. For example, systems that go from a solution (sol) state to a gel state and then back to a sol state can be prepared using chemical processes to control the onset and duration of each change of state. Based on this, more complex systems such as gel-to-sol-to-gel and gel-to-gel-to-gel systems can be designed. Here, we show that we can provide additional insights into such systems by using rheological measurements at varying values of frequency or strain during the evolution of the systems. Since the different states are affected to different degrees by the frequency and/or strain applied, this allows us to better understand and follow the changes in state in such systems.