Lanthanide-derived Photoluminescent Hydrogels for Analytical Screening of Norfloxacin, Ofloxacin, α-Chymotrypsin, and Gossypol

Abstract

Supramolecular gels are soft substances made of elastic cross-linked three-dimensional network connected by noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, donor-acceptor interactions, π- π stacking interactions. These gels have numerous applications because of their soft, solid-like texture, tunable characteristics, and simple processability. A supramolecular cholate hydrogel where a lanthanide is an integrated part are advantageous because of the combination of advantages of the supramolecular gel along with the unique property of lanthanide luminescence. The hydrophobic and robust nature of the cholate hydrogel matrix's supramolecular network helps stabilize the excited triplet state of the organic antenna molecule, making energy transfer to lanthanide possible. The thesis summarizes the scope of unique supramolecular hydrogels and portable cost-effective paper-based sensors developed from them. Detailed investigations related to the detection of two frequently prescribed drugs, a potential pancreatic cancer biomarker and a polyphenol toxin have been documented. The paper-based strategy has been tested using a portable device as a stand-alone imaging instrument. The device can be modified further and successfully applied in the real diagnostic field as a potentially useful analytical screening tool of real samples.