Periodic Reporting for period 4 - SYNMAT (Synthesis of Functional Multi-Component Supramolecular Systems and Materials)
Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-09-30
1) Regenerative Medicine – New biomaterials could support stem cell and organoid growth, enabling advancements in tissue engineering and artificial extracellular matrices.
2) Sustainable Materials – The ability to engineer self-assembling materials contributes to eco-friendly polymers that reduce reliance on non-biodegradable plastics.
3) Green Hydrogen Production – Innovations in chiral supramolecular structures could improve the efficiency of electrochemical water splitting, a key technology for clean energy solutions.
By bridging gaps in polymer chemistry, this research opens the door to next-generation materials that are not only structurally complex but also offer real-world benefits in these critical areas. The overall are objectives the following. This ERC project aimed to push the boundaries of supramolecular polymer chemistry by introducing multi-step non-covalent synthesis techniques. The overarching goal was to expand the possibilities for creating functional materials that go beyond what is achievable with self-assembly alone. The research was divided into three interconnected areas:
1) Comparing Supramolecular and Covalent Polymers.
2) Developing Multi-Component Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications.
3) Harnessing Chirality for Spin-Selective Chemistry and Sustainable Energy.
By closing the gap between self-assembly and controlled non-covalent synthesis, this project has opened new doors for the design of lifelike materials with practical applications. The results provide a foundation for further scientific advancements, with far-reaching implications in biomedicine, sustainability, and renewable energy.
1) Nanoscopic morphology of water-soluble supramolecular polymers. Advanced techniques were used to map out the nanoscopic morphology of water-soluble supramolecular polymers, significantly enhancing the understanding of their structural behavior.
2) Synthesis of novel discrete oligomers. Despite initial challenges, the team successfully synthesized discrete oligomers and nitrogen-based discotic molecules that self-assemble into supramolecular polymers, aligning with project goals.
3) Bridging covalent and non-covalent polymerization. A groundbreaking method was developed to close the gap between covalent and non-covalent polymers, unlocking new possibilities for designing sustainable materials.
4) Breakthrough in bioactive hydrogels. Using super-resolution microscopy, we observed unexpected clustering of receptors and ligands in dynamic hydrogels. This discovery brings supramolecular hydrogels closer to mimicking natural extracellular matrices, advancing the field of biomedical materials.
5) Discovery of a unique gel-sol-gel-sol transition. A novel material was identified that undergoes a reversible phase transition—transforming from a hydrogel to a liquid upon dilution, then back to a gel upon further dilution. This dilution-induced self-assembly is a unique phenomenon in multicomponent supramolecular systems.
6) Advancing chirality-driven chemistry for green energy. The project demonstrated that chiral molecules could enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in electrochemical water splitting, particularly in systems with a high nitrogen/carbon ratio.
In conclusion, the research was highly successful after a somewhat slow start. The results are unforeseen and it is only the beginning. Where the overall objective remains challenging the results in the endeavor to reach that ultimate goal, we discovered many new aspects; see also below. Up to now, 29 papers are published (all open access), but many more are still in the process of writing. The results obtained are also a start for new projects mainly in collaboration with others. Especially where our new functional materials can be used in optoelectronic devices and biomaterial applications. Finally, the project created a completely new insights into the original of homochirality in nature, which has now become the major research topic of the group today. Without the ERC results, this idea which is a spin-off from the so-called Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect could never been emerged.
The project has pushed the boundaries of supramolecular chemistry, revealing that combining covalent and non-covalent synthesis offers far greater potential than previously anticipated. The unexpected self-assembly behaviors, receptor clustering, and chirality-driven chemistry highlight the vast, untapped possibilities in functional materials. Beyond fundamental science, these discoveries have direct implications for biomedicine, sustainable polymers, and green energy technologies.
Finally and maybe the most impressive finding is the observation of highly ordered liquid-liquid phase separated phases using very long and highly supramolecular fibers. This work is published in Nature and is now part of many research groups in biomaterials for interactions of biomaterials and cells. .