Host-guest interaction enabled chiroptical property, morphology transition, and phase switch in azobenzene-glutamide amphiphile based hydrogel

To achieve the regulation of both chirality and nanostructure in supramolecular gel is significant and challenging. Here, we prepare a supramolecular hydrogel system by an low-molecule-weight-gelator C4AzoGlu in aqueous solution. C4AzoGlu hydrogel show supramolecular chirality and a structure of nanotwists. When C4AzoGlu complex with α-Cyclodextrin in water, the supramolecular chirality switch, the morphology transition from nanotwists to precipitate and the phase switch from gel to sol could be realized by photoirradiation, which is caused by the trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene group. This work may provide some insights to the chiroptical property and morphology transition based on host-guest gel formed in aqueous solution.