Flow-induced alignment of fiberlike supramolecular self-assemblies during organogel formation with various low molecular mass organogelator-solvent systems

Organogelators are small organic molecules that self-assemble at low temperature in long entangled and connected fibers to give birth to a random gel. In this paper, we describe a systematic procedure to prepare easily orientated samples by using a weak flow. We demonstrate that applying a mechanical shear stress during the cooling of a hot isotropic solution of a low molecular mass gelator can lead not only to the alignment of the growing fibers in a parallel fashion within the bulk material but also to centimeter-sized, cylinder-shaped objects displaying strong anisotropic features and well-defined organization at the nanometer level. This work opens exciting ways toward organic materials exhibiting enhanced mechanical, photonic, magnetic, or electronic properties along a given direction.