Metal-based soft materials in biological applications

Abstract

The project includes synthesizing and optimizing metal-based soft materials (metallogels) with various applicable properties. The gelator component TABTA has been synthesized because it possesses hydrogen bond donor-acceptor sites that actively participate in forming non-covalent interactions. Specifically, two hybrid organogel matrices G8-TABTA (N2, N4, N6-tri(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid tris-[(4-aminophenyl)-amide]) and TABTA-Ibp (Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid tris-[(4-aminophenyl)-amide] and sodium salt of Ibuprofen) have been designed and optimized effectively. These matrices form silver metallogels, and the formation of silver nanoparticles serves as a scaffold for gel fabrication. Various spectroscopic techniques have been employed to characterize these metallogels successfully. All gel matrices display typical gel characteristics such as flexibility, stability, and self-healing properties. To understand the interactions between gelator components, FT-IR and PXRD analyses of their xerogels have been conducted. Additionally, rheologic properties are explored to assess the strength and thixotropic properties of the gels. Previously, based on an earlier report, a gelator molecule GE (Benzene- tricarbonyl tris(azanediyl)) tris(4-aminobenzoic acid)) has been synthesized to form a hybrid gel with G8. This G8GE gel exhibited the aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE) phenomenon in its aggregated state. Therefore, in this study, leveraging the fluorescence characteristics of the gelator component TABTA, a gel matrix, G8-TABTA has been designed, which demonstrates the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) phenomenon in its aggregated state. Additionally, another gel matrix, TABTA-Ibp, loaded with silver nanoparticles, featuring injectability, has been designed for dual delivery of Ibuprofen drug and AgNPs, serving simultaneously as anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents.