The integration of nanoscale materials into unconventional environments such as gels is a magnificent strategy towards development of engineered hybrid functional systems. Herein, the in situ formation of CdS quantum dots integrated into a metallogel formed through the coordination of Cd²⁺ with two pyrimidine nucleobases is reported. Thymine and uracil formed spontaneous hydrogels with nanofibrous morphology through coordinative interaction with Cd²⁺ ions at alkaline pH. Introduction of Na₂S resulted in generation of CdS quantum dots within the hydrogels with tunable emission properties from blue to white to yellow. The quenching of emission of white light system was exploited for the sensing of Fe³⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions. Such a color tunable quantum dot incorporated metallogel system will find applications in energy harvesting and sensing.

中文翻译：

---

Cd（ii）–核碱基超分子金属水凝胶可原位生长颜色可调的CdS量子点†

将纳米级材料集成到非常规环境（例如凝胶）中是开发工程化混合功能系统的宏伟策略。在本文中，报道了原位形成CdS量子点并整合到通过Cd ²⁺与两个嘧啶核碱基的配位而形成的金属盐中。胸腺嘧啶和尿嘧啶通过在碱性pH下与Cd ²⁺离子的配位相互作用形成具有纳米纤维形态的自发水凝胶。Na ₂ S的引入导致水凝胶中CdS量子点的产生，其发射特性从蓝色到白色到黄色都是可调的。利用白光系统的猝灭来检测Fe ³⁺和Cu²⁺离子。这种结合有颜色可调量子点的金属试剂系统将在能量收集和传感中找到应用。