Supramolecular Ni(II)-Selective Gel Assembly toward Construction of a Schottky Barrier Diode

A mechanically stable and thermo-irreversible supramolecular Ni(II)-selective gel (MG) has been developed by utilizing the N,O-donor Schiff base (E)-1-((4-(diethylamino)phenylimino)-methyl)naphthalen-2-ol (HL) gelator and Et₃N in binary THF:CH₃OH (1:1) solutions at room temperature (rt). Metallogel MG has been characterized by spectral and analytical techniques, i.e., ESI-MS, FT-IR, NMR (¹H & ¹³C), powder-XRD, FE-SEM, and rheological analysis. Further, noncovalent interactions responsible for the gelation mechanism have been illustrated with the aid of powder-XRD and FE-SEM analysis. The toughness, viscoelasticity, and flow behavior of MG were explored through rheological studies. Rheological and compressive measurements showed higher values of storage modulus and rigidity of MG; however, the flow property along with enrichment of toughness in MG can be an analytical metric for various engineering and industrial applications. Eventually, a Schottky barrier diode (SBD) was successfully constructed to mimic the functionality of MG-based metal-semiconductor (MS) junction devices for possible application in electrical engineering.