Electrostatic interaction effect for human DNA separation with functionalized mesoporous silicas

This work describes the development of highly efficient human DNA separation with functionalized mesoporous silica (FMS) materials. To demonstrate the electrostatic interaction effect between the target DNA molecules and FMS, three aminofunctionality types comprised of a mono-, a di-, and a tri-amine functional group were introduced on the inner surfaces of mesoporous silica particles. Systematic characterization of the synthesized materials was achieved by solid-state ²⁹Si and ¹³C-NMR techniques, BET, FT-IR, and XPS. The DNA separation efficiency was explored via the function of the amino-group number, the amount used, and the added NaCl concentration. The DNA adsorption yields were high in terms of the use of triaminofunctionalized FMS at the 10 ng/L level, and the DNA desorption efficiency showed the optimum level at over 3.0 M NaCl concentration. The use of FMS in a DNA separation process provides numerous advantages over the conventional silica-based process.