Engineering of small molecule organogels by design of the nanometer structure of fiber networks

The influence of a nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene sirbitan monooelate on the structure of the fiber networks of organogels was investigated and the effects of these surfactants on the rheological properties of the gels were studied. The results show that the network is formed by transient entanglement of individual fibers and the addition of tiny amount of a nonionic surfactant Tween 80 promotes the formation of inter-connected fiber network structures. The fibers in absence and presence of surfactant have same XRD pattern as that of the gelator powders signifying that Tween 80 does not affect the crystalline nature of fibers. The macroscopic properties of the gel shows that an increase in surfactant concentration increases the elasticity of gels and then approaches a constant level. The results also show that in a small molecule of organogel, a shorter correlation length gives higher elasticity to the gel