A new gelator was synthesized from 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTA) and 4-hydroxy- pyridine (PHP) by a simple procedure and structurally confirmed by 1H NMR, IR and elemental analysis. The characteristic peaks of 2489 and 1894 cm－1 in the IR spectrum indicated the formation of hydrogen bond between the carboxylic acid and pyridyl groups. The gelator molecules assembled into aggregated fibers during the gelating process. On increasing the gelator concentration, the fiber size, fiber network density and freezing water content increased accordingly. Therefore the gel structures could be controlled by changing the gelator concentration. The supramolecular hydrogels formed at a gelator concentration higher than 2.3 wt% kept stable even under 100 ℃.

Key words: supramolecular hydrogel, gelator, hydrogen bond, structure