Supramolecular Hydrogels and Nanostructures

Supramolecular hydrogels are three-dimensional, water-rich networks formed by the reversible self-assembly of small molecules or macromolecules via non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, host–guest inclusion and electrostatic forces. These dynamic materials combine the softness and high water content of traditional polymer gels with the responsiveness and adaptivity conferred by supramolecular chemistry. At the nanoscale, self-assembled fibres, tapes, tubes and sheets interweave to immobilise solvent, yielding materials that can flow under stress yet rapidly recover their structure. Supramolecular nanostructures exhibit tunable mechanical properties, shear-thinning behaviour and stimuli-responsiveness, making them attractive platforms for biomedical delivery, tissue engineering, sensing, soft robotics and energy conversion. Recent advances have focused on harnessing dissipative, fuel-driven processes to generate transient states and spatiotemporal control, as well as on incorporating functional units—such as peptides, small natural molecules and photochromic dyes—to endow hydrogels with antimicrobial activity, selective release profiles and self-erasing or anti-counterfeiting functions. The modularity of gelators allows for multi-component systems with high information content and synergy between different self-assembling motifs, opening pathways to next-generation adaptive materials.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have shown that simple natural products can act as one-component gelators, directly assembling into hydrogels with sustained release characteristics and intrinsic bioactivity. One body of work demonstrates that a herbal small molecule organises into a three-dimensional nanofibre network capable of cellular uptake, receptor binding and prolonged anti-inflammatory action in neural models. Another line of enquiry has introduced energy-dissipative hydrogels fuelled by carbodiimide chemistry, wherein transient anhydride bonds drive assembly into colloids, inks or gels that degrade predictably under aqueous conditions. This approach affords precise temporal control over material integrity, enabling applications in self-erasing inks and reusable transient scaffolds. Further advances have achieved sustained non-equilibrium steady states of supramolecular polymers within membrane reactors by continuous addition of biochemical fuel and removal of waste, thereby mimicking living systems’ assembly–disassembly cycles and providing a blueprint for life-like soft materials with regulated lifetimes.

Supramolecular Hydrogels and Nanostructures publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in supramolecular hydrogels and nanostructures across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Supramolecular self-assembly: Organisation of molecules into ordered structures through reversible non-covalent interactions.

Hydrogel: Three-dimensional network of hydrophilic gelators that immobilises large volumes of water.

Non-equilibrium assembly: Formation of structures maintained by continuous input of energy or mass rather than reaching thermodynamic minimum.

Gelator: Low-molecular-weight component capable of forming a gel through self-assembly.

Stimuli-responsive: Ability of a material to change its structure or properties in response to external triggers such as pH, temperature or light.

Nanofibre: One-dimensional structure with nanometre-scale diameter formed by aligned molecular assemblies.

References

1. Directed self-assembly of herbal small molecules into sustained release hydrogels for treating neural inflammation. Nature Communications (2019).
2. Non-equilibrium dissipative supramolecular materials with a tunable lifetime. Nature Communications (2017).
3. Non-equilibrium steady states in supramolecular polymerization. Nature Communications (2017).
4. Stimuli responsive dynamic transformations in supramolecular gels. Chemical Society Reviews (2021).
5. Multifunctional Antimicrobial Biometallohydrogels Based on Amino Acid Coordinated Self‐Assembly. Small (2020).
6. From supramolecular polymers to multi-component biomaterials. Chemical Society Reviews (2017).
7. Self-assembling dipeptide antibacterial nanostructures with membrane disrupting activity. Nature Communications (2017).
8. Cooperative supramolecular polymers with anthracene‒endoperoxide photo-switching for fluorescent anti-counterfeiting. Nature Communications (2018).