Water-inducing molecular self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules into nanofibers

We present investigations on the microcosmic self-assembly process of new synthesized amphiphilic TPDP molecules. It can be seen that pure TPDP nanofibers with smooth surfaces can be obtained by reprecipitation method using ethanol as good solvent and water as poor solvent. In the self-assembly process, during the water adding to the amphiphilic molecules’ saturated solution, the amphiphilic molecules firstly assembled into needle-like small rods. With an increase in the self-assembled time, a large number of the nanofibers are produced. The assembly behavior was revealed in the course of direct in situ monitoring of its growth with optical microscopy. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was adopted to characterize the morphologies of the products.