Phys.org August 31, 2023
Thermoresponsive graphene-oxide (GO) nanosheets have been widely employed to develop smart membranes/surfaces, hydrogel actuators, recyclable systems, and biomedical applications. Current synthetic strategies to generate thermoresponsive GO nanosheets have exclusively relied on the covalent or non-covalent modification of their surfaces with thermoresponsive polymers. Researchers in Japan discovered that GO nanosheets with Bu4N+ countercations became thermoresponsive in water without the use of any thermoresponsive polymers, inducing a reversible sol–gel transition via their self-assembly and disassembly processes. The resultant dispersion can be used as a direct writing ink for constructing a three-dimensionally designable gel architecture of the GO nanosheets. According to the researchers their concept of “countercation engineering” could become a new strategy for imparting a stimuli-responsive ability to various charged nanomaterials for the development of next-generation smart materials… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Graphical abstract. Credit: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2023, 15, 31, 37837–37844, July 24, 2023