Executive Summary : | Surfactants and dyes are used in biomedical applications such as drug delivery, formulation, and imaging. However, their limited solubility and drug internalization mechanisms have limited their applications. To address these limitations, the concept of ionic liquids (ILs) is proposed, which are green solvents composed of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions. The proposed new ILs, Surfactant Based Spectroscopically Active Ionic Liquid (SAIL), can be synthesized and characterized using various methods such as NMR, FTIR, TGA, DSC, and mass spectrometry. The primary advantage of SAIL is that both the dye and surfactant are integrated parts of the IL system. This study will synthesize and characterize novel SAILs using various techniques, including UV-Visible, steady-state fluorescence, and time-resolved fluorescence. The dynamics of SAIL morphology and size will be studied using SEM technique, while critical micelle concentration and aggregation number will be investigated spectroscopically. The effect of temperature and pH on micelle formation, structure, size, and shape will also be studied. SAILs will be tested for cytotoxicity using different cancer cell lines and therapeutically active SAILs will be studied for cellular uptake mechanism using confocal/fluorescence microscopy. The tailor-made capability of ILs will be explored by altering or replacing ions to create robust SAILs. The luminescence and designing ability of SAILs will help develop a probe capable of visualizing cancer cells for surgical removal and inducing cytotoxicity for cancerous tissue. |