Stimulus-responsive gels formed by certain low molecular-mass organic gelators (LMOGs), which are a class of “smart” materials, exhibit a dramatic change in their properties in response to the application of an environmental stimulus, such as temperature, light, ionic strength, pH, electric or magnetic fields and mechanical stress, etc. In this paper, the progress in stimulus-responsive LMOG gels, such as thermo-responsive type, light-responsive type, pH-responsive type, ion-responsive type, electric or magnetic field-responsive type, ultrasound-responsive type and mechano-responsive type has been reviewed according to their different stimulus conditions, along with their application.

Key words: structure, low molecular-mass organic gelator, stimuli-responsive, progress