Abstract
Fuel-driven dissipative self-assembly, which is a well-established
concept in recent years, refers to out-of-equilibrium molecular
self-assembly initiated and supported by the addition of active
molecules (chemical fuel). It widely exists in nature since many
tempo-rary, active micro- or nanostructures in living bodies are
generated by the dissipative self-assembly of biomolecules. Therefore,
the study on dissipative self-assembly provides a good opportunity to
have an insight into the microscopic mechanism of living organisms. In
the meantime, dissipative assembly is thought to be a potential pathway
to achieve dynamic, temporary supramolecular materials. Recently, a
number of temporary materials have been developed with the aid of
strategies for realizing dissipative self-assembly. Some of their
properties, including solubility, stiffness, turbidity, color, or
self-healing ability, change upon the addition of chemical fuel but
spontaneously restore with chemical fuel consumption. The dynamic of
these materials brings them various unprecedented functions. In this
review, the principles of fabricating a fuel-driven temporary material
are first reviewed and subsequently, recent examples of fuel-driven
temporary materials are emphatically summarized, including gels,
self-erased inks, nanoreactors, self-healing materials, and
nanochannels. Finally, the challenges of developing fuel-driven
temporary materials and some perspectives on the function and
application of such kind of materials are discussed.