Photocurable ABA triblock copolymer-based ion gels utilizing photodimerization of coumarin

Ionogels for flexible conductive substrates and their application in biosensing

Ionogels are highly conductive gels made from ionic liquids dispersed in a matrix made of organic or inorganic materials. Ionogels are known for high ionic conductivity, flexibility, high thermal and electrochemical stability. These characteristics make them suitable for sensing and biosensing applications. This review discusses about the two main constituents, ionic liquids and matrix, used to make ionogels and effect of these materials on the characteristics of ionogels. Here, the material properties like mechanical, electrochemical and stability are discussed for both polymer matrix and ionic liquid. We have briefly described about the fabrication methods like 3D printing, sol-gel, blade coating, spin coating, aerosol jet printing etc., used to make films or coating of these ionogels. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are also briefly summarized. Finally, the last section provides a few examples of application of flexible ionogels in areas like wearables, human-machine interface, electronic skin and detection of biological molecules.

Ionogels: recent advances in design, material properties and emerging biomedical applications

Ionic liquid (IL)-based gels (ionogels) have received considerable attention due to their unique advantages in ionic conductivity and their biphasic liquid-solid phase property. In ionogels, the negligibly volatile ionic liquid is retained in the interconnected 3D pore structure. On the basis of these physical features as well as the chemical properties of well-chosen ILs, there is emerging interest in the anti-bacterial and biocompatibility aspects. In this review, the recent achievements of ionogels for biomedical applications are summarized and discussed. Following a brief introduction of the various types of ILs and their key physicochemical and biological properties, the design strategies and fabrication methods of ionogels are presented by means of different confining networks. These sophisticated ionogels with diverse functions, aimed at biomedical applications, are further classified into several active domains, including wearable strain sensors, therapeutic delivery systems, wound healing and biochemical detections. Finally, the challenges and possible strategies for the design of future ionogels by integrating materials science with a biological interface are proposed.

Highly photosensitive furan acrylate derivatives and their solid-state photopolymerization

Highly photosensitive multifunctional furan acrylate monomers synthesized from biomass furfural can be photopolymerized into polyesters without photoinitiators and solvents.

Emerging iongel materials towards applications in energy and bioelectronics

In the past two decades, ionic liquids (ILs) have blossomed as versatile task-specific materials with a unique combination of properties, which can be beneficial for a plethora of different applications. The additional need of incorporating ILs into solid devices led to the development of a new class of ionic soft-solid materials, named here iongels. Nowadays, iongels cover a wide range of materials mostly composed of an IL component immobilized within different matrices such as polymers, inorganic networks, biopolymers or inorganic nanoparticles. This review aims at presenting an integrated perspective on the recent progress and advances in this emerging type of material. We provide an analysis of the main families of iongels and highlight the emerging types of these ionic soft materials offering additional properties, such as thermoresponsiveness, self-healing, mixed ionic/electronic properties, and (photo)luminescence, among others. Next, recent trends in additive manufacturing (3D printing) of iongels are presented. Finally, their new applications in the areas of energy, gas separation and (bio)electronics are detailed and discussed in terms of performance, underpinning it to the structural features and processing of iongel materials.

Novel asymmetric photodimerization reaction of coumarin derivatives bearing a chiral 2-oxazolidinone auxiliary

A novel asymmetric photodimerization reaction of coumarin derivatives bearing the (S)-4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone auxiliary provides only the syn-head-to-tail (syn-HT) dimer with moderate diastereoselectivity (up to 75 : 25). The mechanism of complete syn-HT selectivity and moderate diastereoselectivity is proposed based on the result of density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The benzyl group of the (S)-4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone auxiliary in combination with a Lewis acid exerts effective diastereofacial shielding of the reaction site.

Block copolymer self-assembly in ionic liquids

Recent developments in block copolymer self-assembly in ionic liquids are reviewed from both fundamental and applied aspects.

Photohealable ion gels based on the reversible dimerisation of anthracene

A photohealable ion gel based on the photodimerisation of anthracene as a dynamic covalent bond was developed.