Raman microprobe spectroscopic studies of solid DNA-CTMA films

Extensive studies have been carried out on developing the new biopolymer, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) derived from salmon, that has been complexed with a surfactant to make it water insoluble for application to bioelectronic and biophotonic devices. One of the key issues associated with the properties and behavior of solid films of this material is the extreme size of the >8 MDa molecular weight of the virgin, as-received material. Reduction of this molecular weight by factors of up to 40 is achieved by high power sonication. To support the various measurements that have been made to confirm that the sonicated material is still double strand DNA and to look for other effects of sonication, Raman studies were carried out to compare the spectra over a wide range of molecular weights and to develop baseline data that can be used in intercolation studies where various dopants are added to change the electrical, mechanical or optical properties. Raman microprobe spectra from solid, dry thin films of DNA with molecular weights ranging from 200 kDa to >8 MDa complexed with cetyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride (CTMA) are reported and compared to the as-received spectrum and to published DNA spectra in aqueous solutions. In addition, microscopy and measurements on macro-molecular structures of DNA-CTMA are reported.