Two-component organogels of phosphorous-based organic acids and diamine

Phosphorous-based organic acids (P) and diamine (M) were used to produce a supramolecular PM complex at a 2:1 molar ratio, which then formed a stable gel in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). According to SEM, the morphologies of the aggregates depended on the steric substitute of phosphorous-based organic acids and the structure of the complementary diamine. 31P NMR and FTIR spectroscopies revealed that hydrogen bonding within the PM complex was the main driving force for the self-aggregation. XRD studies revealed that the two-component gelators mainly assemble into a stricter lamellar structure when increasing the rigidity of the complementary component. In contrast, the gelators with the aliphatic unit mainly assembled into a random lamellar structure and showed more possibility of deforming. As such, the results in this paper demonstrate how structure effects in two-component gel system of phosphorous-based organic acids and diamine can control self-assembly process.