Mechanical Reinforcement of Supramolecular Hydrogel through Incorporation of Multiple Noncovalent Interactions

Supramolecular hydrogel, comprising a three-dimensional network of self-assembled nanofibers, has recently emerged as a unique material for a variety of potential applications such as tissue engineering. One serious drawback of suprainolecular hydrogels that sometimes limits their practical usage is their mechanical weakness compared with conventional polymer gels. Here we describe a stiff supramolecular hydrogel made of a zwitterionic amino acid-tethered amphiphilic molecule that self-assembles into nanofibers through multiple and orthogonal noncovalent interactions.