Curcumin-derived one-and two-component organogelators and their performance as template for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles

A single-component gelation system based on bis-cholesteryl appended curcumin derivative (BCC) and its corresponding two-component organogelation system with sodium stearate (SS) was proposed. As a single component gelator, BCC forms gel with ethylene diamine (ED), through hydrogen bonding between carbonyl group of BCC and amino group of ED as indicated by temperature dependent solid state NMR (SSNMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles. As two-component gelator, BCC forms gel with a variety of solvents in the presence of sodium stearate (SS). Replacing sodium stearate by other sodium and stearate sources failed to form gel, revealing that both BCC and SS are crucial for effective gelation. The ion-dipole interactions between sodium and keto group of SS and BCC respectively, as well as π-π interactions confers better gelation abilities to BCC-SS system compared to the single component system. The morphology of the as-formed organogels exhibited entangled fibrillated structures and can be regulated by changing the composition of SS towards BCC and the type of organic solvents. Interestingly, our designed gelator, BCC-ED demonstrates potential application as an effective template for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at low temperatures as demonstrated by XRD and SEM analysis. Replacing BCC or ED failed to form AgNPs, revealing the synergistic effect of BCC-ED.