A Mayan-inspired DAPI fluorophore stabilized and enhanced through sorption on palygorskite

DAPI (4 ',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, di-hydrochloride) is a photoactive dye used as a fluorescent marker for nucleic acids, due to its high affinity for the major groove in the DNA double helix. By following a Mayan-inspired recipe (namely grinding, heating and washing in H2O), the DAPI molecule was fastened to the microporous framework of palygorskite - a clay mineral used to produce the famed Maya Blue pigment, whose fibrous crystals are carved by surface grooves similar in size to those of DNA - in order to obtain a newly designed fluorescent material. This hybrid composite was investigated with a multi-analytical approach, which includes FE-SEM-EDS, BET-specific surface area (SSA)/micropore volume measurements, thermogravimetry, UV-vis, fluorescence and FT-IR spectroscopies. Supramolecular interactions form between the clay and the dye already after grinding, apparently involving a two-step binding process. Evidence is found of an incipient, electrostatic interaction between cationic DAPI and the negatively charged surface of the palygorskite fibrils, which then evolves in Hbonding interaction between the dye amine groups and the zeolitic and/or structural water in the clay surface grooves. Heating and washing in H2O seemingly deteriorate the composite morphology and stability, jeopardizing - rather than strengthening - the previously formed host/guest interactions. This hybrid composite, with remarkable stability and appreciable quantum yield, is potentially fit to be used as a low-cost, fluorescent material for applications such as spectrum manipulation technologies, sensors, optical devices, imaging and designtargeted drug-delivery systems.