Multi-component, Self-assembled, Functional Soft Materials

In recent years functional molecular gels have attracted considerable interest owing to their potential applications in various fields including biomaterials, sensing and optoelectronics. We have been working on the aggregation of a variety of bile acid derivatives which form self-assembled fibrillar networks (SAFINs), eventually leading to the immobilization of solvent molecules around them. In this presentation, our efforts to organize multiple components on the SAFINs to generate luminescent materials with potential applications will be discussed.
Recent References:
1.	"Self-organization of multiple components in a steroidal hydrogel matrix: Design, construction and studies on novel tunable luminescent gels and xerogels", S. Banerjee, R. Kandanelli, S. Bhowmik and U. Maitra, Soft Matter 2011, (DOI:10.1039/C1SM05672G).
2.	“A self-assembled, luminescent europium cholate hydrogel: a novel approach towards lanthanide sensitization”, S. Bhowmik, S. Banerjee and U. Maitra, Chem. Commun, 2010, 46, 8642 (DOI: 10.1039/c0cc02939d).
3.	“Molecular Gels ‘in action’”, S. Banerjee, R.K. Das, U. Maitra, J. Mater. Chem. 2009, 19, 6649-6687.
4.	"Nanoparticle-Gel Hybrid Material Designed with Bile Acid Analogues", Shreedhar Bhat and Uday Maitra, Chem. Mater. 2006, 18, 4224-4226.