A supramolecular hydrogel for generation of a benign DNA-hydrogelElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Schemes, 1H and 13C NMR spectra of tetrapyridine, ESI-MS spectral patterns of tetrapyridine and Shgel, dynamic light scattering study, rheological patterns, hematological and serological parameters for toxicity evaluation, SEM image of the DNA-hydrogel, in vitro analysis, CD spectral study of the interactions of Ag-NPs with CT-DNA, fluorescence spectra of the Shgel, gel-document

• Main Authors: Dey, B, Mondal, R. K, Mukherjee, S, Satpati, B, Mukherjee, N, Mandal, A, Senapati, D, Sinha Babu, S. P
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra19172f

A novel hydrogel has been synthesized using 2′,4′,6′-tri(4-pyridyl)pyridine in an acidic water medium. TEM analyses along with rheological experiments explore the supramolecular features of the hydrogel. In vitro and in vivo toxicity studies depict the non-toxic and bio-relevant nature of the pure supramolecular hydrogel and its aqueous solution. This bio-compatible supramolecular hydrogel is used for the synthesis of a DNA-hydrogel with calf thymus DNA. The DNA-hydrogel is intriguing for the effective stabilization of photochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles from Ag( i ) under the direct exposure of sunrays. DNA-hydrogel capped Ag-NPs are also bio-compatible. The luminous features of the 2′,4′,6′-tri(4-pyridyl)pyridine based supramolecular hydrogel, DNA-hydrogel and DNA-hydrogel capped Ag-NPs and their aqueous solutions are explored through fluorescence microscopy and spectral analyses, respectively. A DNA-hydrogel, produced using calf-thymus DNA and a 2′,4′,6′-tri(4-pyridyl)pyridine based luminescent supramolecular hydrogel, can stabilize sunray mediated photochemically synthesized bio-compatible, luminous Ag-NPs.