Abstract
A hybrid material, consisting of commercially available nitrocellulose (NC) membrane non-covalently modified with amino-polyethylene glycol functionalized reduced graphene oxide (NH(2)-PEG-rGO) nanoparticles, was successfully synthesized for oligonucleotide extraction. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the modification of the NC membrane, revealing characteristic peaks of both compounds, i.e., NC and NH(2)-PEG-rGO. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) exhibited morphological changes in the NC/NH(2)-PEG-rGO hybrid membrane, marked by the introduction of NH(2)-PEG-rGO particles, resulting in a distinctly smothered surface compared to the porous surface of the NC control membrane. Wettability assays revealed hydrophobic behavior for the NC/NH(2)-PEG-rGO hybrid membrane, with a water contact angle exceeding 90°, contrasting with the hydrophilic behavior characterized by a 16.7° contact angle in the NC membrane. The performance of the NC/NH(2)-PEG-rGO hybrid membrane was evaluated for the extraction of ssDNA with fewer than 50 nucleotides from solutions containing various ionic species (MnCl(2), MgCl(2), and MnCl(2)/MgCl(2)). The NC/NH(2)-PEG-rGO hybrid membrane exhibited optimal performance when incubated in MgCl(2), presenting the highest fluorescence emission at 525 relative fluorescence units (r.f.u.). This corresponds to the extraction of approximately 610 pg (≈13%) of the total oligo-DNA, underscoring the efficacy of the pristine material, which extracts 286 pg (≈6%) of oligo-DNA in complex solutions.