Copper(II) ion selective and strong acid-tolerable hydrogels formed by an L-histidine ester terminated bolaamphiphile: from single molecular thick nanofibers to single-wall nanotubes.

An L-histidine ester terminated bolaamphiphile (BolaHis) was found to form hydrogels and self-assemble into single-wall nanotubes and single molecular thick fibers triggered by proton and copper ions, respectively. The hydrogels showed good tolerance to a concentrated acid environment and excellent selectivity towards Cu(2+) over other metal ions.