Adsorption of nucleic acid bases on clays:: an investigation using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and FT-IR spectroscopy

In the present paper, the adsorption of nucleic acid bases (A, adenine; C, cytosine; U, uracil; and T, thymine) on clays (bentonite, kaolinite, and montmorillonite) was studied at different pH (2.00 and 7.20). It should be pointed out there is no reported study of adsorption of nucleic acid bases on clays using seawater (with the major elements), and a wide range of pH. The main finding of this study was that the ratio of A and T adsorbed on clays ranged from 4.68 to 25.1, much higher than the ratio of their occurrence in organisms ranging from 0.95 to 1.05. The weaker adsorption of U and T on clays raises the question of the possibility of a genetic code based on purines only. The FT-IR spectra at pH 2.00 showed that the interaction of A, C, T, and U with the clays occurs through positively charged, protonated groups.