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Synergistic effects of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions in the self-assembly of sodium lauroyl glutamate

Polymer Journal (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

This study focuses on microenvironmental changes under different forces and involves the construction of a series of sodium lauroyl glutamate (LGS) supramolecular hydrogel systems, including LGS hydrogel, LGS-E gel, and LGS/APG hydrogel. This research indicates that the formation of LGS supramolecular hydrogels relies on the synergy between hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. It has a specific formation range and exhibits dual responsiveness to temperature and pH. The LGS-E gel system is based on weak hydrophobic interactions and can only form in a mixed water/ethanol system, indicating relatively weak temperature responsiveness. The LGS/APG hydrogel system utilizes strong hydrogen bonding to considerably broaden the formation range of the gel phase. Although its mechanical properties are slightly reduced, its stability and the universality of formation are improved. In this study, by regulating the balance between hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, the structural design and performance regulation of LGS supramolecular hydrogels were achieved, providing theoretical and experimental support for their application in relevant fields.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Opening Project of Oil & Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province (YQKF202105).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oil & Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Dongfang Liu

  2. Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Xihua University, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Dongfang Liu, Di Zhang, Awai Jibamo, Yuanyuan Zhang, Liqin Huang & Dong Jiang

  3. Chengdu Newsun Crop Science Company Limited, Pujiang, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611630, China

    Yaxin Zhao

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Contributions

Dongfang Liu: Writing-Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding Acquisition. Di Zhang: Writing-Original Draft, Methodology. Awai Jibamo: Validation, Original draft. Yuanyuan Zhang: Data curation. Liqin Huang: Data Curation. Dong Jiang: Supervision, Conceptualization. Yaxin Zhao: Writing Review & Editing, Supervision, Conceptualization.

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Correspondence to Dongfang Liu.

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Liu, D., Zhang, D., Jibamo, A. et al. Synergistic effects of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions in the self-assembly of sodium lauroyl glutamate. Polym J (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-026-01149-6

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