Nano-Structured Gel Materials for Environmental Remediation and Biomedical Applications

The application of soft materials, including gels, in different material and biological chemistry domains has gained momentum in the past few years. Environmental remediation, drug resistance, and delivery are significant concerns that are being investigated widely nowadays. In this work, we report the multifunctionality of a gelator molecule A2 (5,5′-((6-(phenylamino)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diyl)bis(azanediyl))diisophthalic acid) in the gel state. The gelator molecule A2 was used to fabricate organogel and two metallogels using copper perchlorate and a Ru-based anticancer drug molecule, respectively. The organogel and Cu-metallogel show efficient adsorption capabilities of iodine in the vapor and solution phases. These iodine-loaded gel composites were utilized as efficient antibacterial agents against Escherichia coli and Helicobacter pylori (I10) bacterial strains. Additionally, owing to the pH-responsive nature of the gel material, the Ru-based anticancer drug-loaded metallogel, Ru-A2, was fabricated, and its activity in pH-responsive drug delivery to the cancerous cells was also investigated.