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The aqueous gels from the coordination polymers were observed to transform rapidly into the fluid solutions with counteranion exchange. This reversible sol-gel interconversion in response to external stimuli is attributed to depolymerization or transformation of the folded helical conformation into an unfolded zigzag conformation of the coordination chains with counteranion exchange. These results represent a significant example that size change of the entrapped guest in self-assembling system can provide a useful strategy to create stimuli-responsive smart nanomaterials with functions that can be produced at any time on demand.
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KCS