Topological, chemical, and electro-optical characteristics of riboflavin-doped artificial and natural DNA thin films

DNA is considered as a useful building bio-material, and it serves as an efficient template to align functionalized nanomaterials. Riboflavin (RF)-doped synthetic double-crossover DNA (DX-DNA) lattices and natural salmon DNA (SDNA) thin films are constructed using substrate assisted growth and drop-casting methods, respectively, and their topological, chemical, and electro-optical characteristics were evaluated. The critical doping concentration of RF ([RF]C, ~5 mM) at given concentrations of DX-DNA and SDNA were obtained by observing the phase transition (from crystalline to amorphous structures) of DX-DNA and precipitation of SDNA in solution above [RF]C. [RF]C are verified by analyzing the atomic force microscopy images for DX-DNA and current, absorbance, and photoluminescence for SDNA. We study the physical characteristics of RF-embedded SDNA thin films, which are the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum to understand the interaction between the RF and DNA molecules, current t...