We herein report the preparation of hydrogels by the Ag+ ion induced assembly of cytidine and boronic acids. These hydrogels, presumably formed by an i-motif like arrangement of cytidine and its boronate ester analogues, possess excellent thixotropic and self-healing properties. The hydrogels exhibit potent antimicrobial activity that can be tuned by varying the functional groups in their boronic acid component. These hydrogels could find potential use as antimicrobial agents and stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems.
Keywords: antibacterial; cytidine; self-healing; silver acetate; stimuli responsive; thixotropic.