Synthesis and characterization of Ag+-decorated poly(glycidyl methacrylate) microparticle design for the adsorption of nucleic acids

Abstract

In this study, we report on the adsorption of RNA and DNA molecules by exploiting the high binding affinity of these nucleic acids to Ag+ ions anchored on magnetic poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) microparticles. PGMA microparticles were synthesized and modified with nicotinamide which enabled to anchor Ag+ ions on the surface. The successful preparation of PGMA was confirmed by the presence of characteristic FTIR peaks. The ESR results showed that the incorporation of Fe–Ni salt to the polymeric structure provided a magnetic property to the microparticles. The amount of nicotinamide and Ag+ ions used to modify the surface of the particles were found to be 1.79 wt% and 52.6 mg Ag/g microparticle, respectively. The high affinity of nucleic acids to Ag+ ions were exploited for the adsorption studies. At the optimum working conditions, the adsorption capacity of microparticles was found to be 40.1 and 11.48 mg nucleic acid/g microparticle for RNA and DNA, respectively. Our study indicated that the use of novel Ag+-decorated magnetic PGMA particles can be successfully employed as adsorbents for fast, easy, and cost-friendly adsorption of nucleic acids with high purity as well as high in quantity. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.