Gels are a new material having three-dimensional network structures of macromolecules. They possess excellent
properties as swellability, high permeability and biocompatibility, and have been applied in various fields of daily life,
food, medicine, architecture, and chemistry. In this study, we tried to prepare new multi-functional and high-strength
gels by using Meso-Decoration (Meso-Deco), one new method of structure design at intermediate mesoscale.
High-performance rigid-rod aromatic polymorphic crystals, and the functional groups of thermoreversible Diels-Alder
reaction were introduced into soft gels as crosslinkable pendent chains. The functionalization and strengthening of gels
can be realized by meso-decorating the gels’ structure using high-performance polymorphic crystals and
thermoreversible pendent chains. New gels with good mechanical properties, novel optical properties and thermal
properties are expected to be developed.
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