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Stimulus-responsive water soluble synthetic nanographene

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Abstract

Nanographenes (NGs) are exceptionally hydrophobic. They are insoluble in water, preventing the exploration and utilization of their photophysical properties under aqueous conditions. This work discloses an atomically precise water-soluble synthetic NG 1, featuring a 2 nm sp2 carbon skeleton appended with 12 branched triethylene glycol chains. It synergistically combines low critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior and a photothermal effect to create the first thermo- and photo-responsive atomically precise NG functioning in an aqueous solution. The LCST behavior can be attributed to a delicate balance of hydrophobic-hydrophilic interactions, providing a sensitive thermal response to changes over a temperature range of physiological interest (close to 37 °C). Moreover, 1 has considerable photothermal conversion capability, with irradiation of 1 in water by red or near infrared light increasing the solutions temperature to above the clouding point within seconds, leading to a reversible clear-to-turbid transition over many cycles without evident fatigue.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21871298, 91956118) and the Sun Yat-Sen University. We thank Prof. Dr. Xiaoye Wang from the Nankai University for discussion. Dr. Xiao Zhang and Mr. Zhibin Xiao from the Sun Yat-Sen University are acknowledged for assistance on the calorimetric measurements and photographic recording of the switching process, respectively. We also thank Prof. Wesley R. Browne from the University of Groningen for discussion and proofreading.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Shuang Ma, Yanpeng Zhu, Ying Chen & Jiaobing Wang

  2. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Weitao Dou & Xiaopeng He

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  1. Shuang Ma
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  2. Yanpeng Zhu
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  3. Weitao Dou
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  4. Ying Chen
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Correspondence to Jiaobing Wang.

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Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Ma, S., Zhu, Y., Dou, W. et al. Stimulus-responsive water soluble synthetic nanographene. Sci. China Chem. 64, 576–580 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-020-9916-7

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