Preparation of Photo-responsive DNA Supramolecular Hydrogels and Their Application as UV Radiometers

Ultraviolet light(UV) is an essential component of ambient light, but high dose UV would damage genome DNA. While semiconductors and soft materials have been employed to detect the UV, the complex process and the instrumental requirement have limited the application in daily life. In this study, taking advantage of sequence designability, a series of hydrogels with different gel-sol transition rates was constructed under the same UV intensity by introducing competing hybridization to tune the stability of the molecular network. Through estimating the transition time between each system under UV light irradiation, the intensity of UV could be roughly estimated, which provided a convenient method for the visual detection of UV.