Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages 11766-11784Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms160511766
Keywords
peptide; azobenzene; side-chain functionalization; organogel; phase-selective gelation; dye removal; oil spill
Funding
- DFG [PRJ 9209720]
- Universitat Regensburg
- Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad [CTQ2013-40855-R]
- Gobierno de Aragon-FSE (research group E40)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
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Phase selective gelation (PSG) of organic phases from their non-miscible mixtures with water was achieved using tetrapeptides bearing a side-chain azobenzene moiety. The presence of the chromophore allowed PSG at the same concentration as the minimum gelation concentration (MGC) necessary to obtain the gels in pure organic phases. Remarkably, the presence of the water phase during PSG did not impact the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the corresponding organogels. In the case of miscible oil/water mixtures, the entire mixture was gelled, resulting in the formation of quasi-hydrogels. Importantly, PSG could be triggered at room temperature by ultrasound treatment of the mixture or by adding ultrasound-aided concentrated solution of the peptide in an oil-phase to a mixture of the same oil and water. Moreover, the PSG was not affected by the presence of salts or impurities existing in water from natural sources. The process could be scaled-up, and the oil phases (e.g., aromatic solvents, gasoline, diesel fuel) recovered almost quantitatively after a simple distillation process, which also allowed the recovery and reuse of the gelator. Finally, these peptidic gelators could be used to quantitatively remove toxic dyes from aqueous solutions.
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