Arene–Perfluoroarene Interactions as Physical Cross-Links for Hydrogel Formation
We thank the Office of Naval Research for funding this work. AFMK thanks the Humboldt-Foundation for a Feodor-Lynen Fellowship. We thank Rob Lammertink for help with the rheology measurements.
Graphical Abstract
Stiff PEGs: Aqueous solutions of pyrene end-capped poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) increase their viscosity in the presence of octafluoronaphthalene possibly as a result of aggregation by face-to-face stacking (shown schematically). The exploitation of the arene–perfluoroarene supramolecular synthon in solution is reported.