Quartz-Like Supramolecular Glass Enabled by Host-Guest Size Mismatch.

Authors

Jianfeng Jia, Yi Su, Gang Ye

Published in

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). Pages e73971. Jul 08, 2026. Epub Jul 08, 2026.

Abstract

Supramolecular glasses are conventionally restricted by a fundamental trade-off between mechanical robustness and deep-ultraviolet (UV) transparency, due to the ubiquitous reliance on aromatic building blocks. Herein, we overcome this limitation by reporting a "quartz-like" supramolecular glass assembled from fully saturated aliphatic macrocycles and lithium salts, enabled by a host-guest size mismatch strategy. Crystallographic elucidation reveals that the undersized Li⁺ guest induces severe conformational frustration within the macrocycle, which, in concert with weak anion coordination (PF₆ ^-), kinetically suppresses crystallization. In contrast, size-matched analogues (Na⁺/K⁺) or strongly coordinating anions (Cl^-/NO₃ ^-) assemble as ordered crystalline solids. The resulting material resolves the traditional property conflict, exhibiting fused-silica-like transparency (>95%) spanning the deep-UV to near-infrared regions, while maintaining a high Young's modulus of ∼4.85 GPa, dynamic regenerative repair capability, and robust interfacial adhesion. Notably, the glass demonstrates exceptional stability against high-intensity UV and γ-ray radiation. This study establishes mismatch-induced frustration as a versatile conceptual framework for engineering optically silent supramolecular materials that decouple mechanical strength from optical bandgap.

PMID:
42417096
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Jul 2026.

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