Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2023, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 115-120.doi: 10.1007/s40242-023-2329-5

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Preparation of Photo-responsive DNA Supramolecular Hydrogels and Their Application as UV Radiometers

DING Yuqiao1, LI Yujie2, YANG Bo2, PAN Yufan2, CHENG Jiafeng1, MENG Siwen3, LIU Dongsheng2, XU Lijin1, DONG Yuanchen3,4   

  1. 1. Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, P. R. China;
    2. Engineering Research Center of Advanced Rare Earth Materials, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China;
    3. CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China;
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
  • Received:2022-12-05 Online:2023-02-01 Published:2023-02-02
  • Contact: LIU Dongsheng, XU Lijin, DONG Yuanchen E-mail:liudongsheng@tsinghua.edu.cn;20050062@ruc.edu.cn;dongyc@iccas.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, China(No.Z180016) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21971248).

Abstract: Ultraviolet light(UV) is an essential component of ambient light, but high dose UV would damage genome DNA. While semiconductors and soft materials have been employed to detect the UV, the complex process and the instrumental requirement have limited the application in daily life. In this study, taking advantage of sequence designability, a series of hydrogels with different gel-sol transition rates was constructed under the same UV intensity by introducing competing hybridization to tune the stability of the molecular network. Through estimating the transition time between each system under UV light irradiation, the intensity of UV could be roughly estimated, which provided a convenient method for the visual detection of UV.

Key words: Photo-responsive DNA hydrogel, Azobenzene, Gel-sol transition, UV detection