Abstract:
Anion-induced self-assembly is one of the growing research fields as it provides a better understanding of
natural self-assemblies such as DNA, proteins, peptides, etc. Peptides are well known for their aggregation
properties owing to their hydrogen bonding interactions. Herein, nanohybrids of the glutathione tripeptide and
naphthalimide based compounds were fabricated, in order to explore their self-assembly behaviour. The
naphthalimide based compounds were processed into organic nanoparticles using a re-precipitation method
and then into nanohybrids with a tripeptide under ultrasonication conditions to get nanohybrids NH-1, NH-2
and NH-3. The morphology of prepared nanohybrids was studied by HRTEM analysis. The photophysical studies
of these nanohybrids were carried out by adding various anions. NH-1 shows enhanced fluorescence intensity
with bisulphate anions and the rest of the anions do not induce any change in the fluorescence intensity.
Furthermore, the morphology of these nanohybrids was monitored using HRTEM and STEM. With bisulphate
anions, a beautiful butterfly shaped self-assembly was observed for NH-1. The increase in intensity was a result
of the aggregation induced enhanced emission mechanism. These self-assemblies have potential applications in
the recognition of bisulphate with a limit of detection (LOD) of 3 nM and a limit of quantification of 10 nM
respectively.
