Anisotropic supramolecular plastics prepared from an undercooled liquid-crystalline phase of a cholesterol-based low-molecular-weight compound

Anisotropic supramolecular plastics prepared from an undercooled liquid-crystalline phase of a cholesterol-based low-molecular-weight compound | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Anisotropic supramolecular plastics prepared from an undercooled liquid-crystalline phase of a cholesterol-based low-molecular-weight compound Kazunori Sugiyasu, Chia-Hsin Cheng, Yuichiro Watanabe, Takashi Kajitani, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8341883/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Supramolecular plastics composed of low-molecular-weight compounds offer a promising pathway toward sustainable materials. However, achieving a macroscopic structural order and tuneable mechanical properties without relying on covalently bonded macromolecular components remains a significant challenge. We have developed a supramolecular plastic derived from a cholesterol-based low-molecular-weight compound, (3β)-cholest-5-en-3-yl dodecylcarbamate, that forms a metastable liquid-crystalline (LC) phase upon quenching from its isotropic melt. The LC phase displays sufficient fluidity at room temperature to permit bulk processing, for example, by compression; the material subsequently undergoes spontaneous crystallization to form a self-standing sheet. By controlling the quenching temperature and the incubation time prior to processing, we succeeded in endowing the sheet with molecular ordering that extended beyond the centimetre scale and, as a result, the sheet exhibited anisotropic mechanical properties. These findings establish a design strategy for creating processable, structurally tuneable, bulk materials exclusively from small molecules. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Supramolecular chemistry/Supramolecular polymers Physical sciences/Chemistry/Supramolecular chemistry/Self-assembly Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupMovie1.mp4 SupMovie1 SupMovie2.mp4 SupMovie2 SI.pdf Supplementary Info Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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