Structure and Electronic Properties of “DNA-Gold-Nanotube” Systems: A Quantum Chemical Analysis
P. Pannopard, J. Sirijaraensre, S. Nokbin, P. Khongpracha and J. Limtrakul
Kasetsart University, TH
A=T base pair, single-walled carbon nanotubes, SWNTs, gold, DFT
The idea of chemical sensing based on molecular recognition is known as one of the most promising concepts for single-molecule detection, even though it still remains in an early developmental stage. The approach requires probes which hold a specific recognition of desired chemical species and a transduction ability of that recognition incident into a quantitative response signal. Due to those indispensable functions, it is very versatile for the fabrication of a chemical sensing probe that integrates both recognition and transduction moieties into a single molecular assembly. The scheme has been examined in various disciplines, especially for a nature imitated detection of specific DNA sequences. The exclusive properties of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are high sensitivity, electrical conductivity, size-dependent optical capability and affinity to the biomolecules. The recent experimental and theoretical studies reported that adenine base has the highest affinity with gold and it preferentially binds to nitrogen atom at the N7 position. Furthermore, there is considerable interest in applying carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that possess fascinating structural, chemical, mechanical and electrical manners as charge-transport centers for electronic transducers. Accordingly, it is the objective of this current work, to investigate the modulation of adenine-thymine(A:T) hybridization under the interaction with the hybrid structure of a neutral gold atom acts as the reactive sites for anchoring of the DNA bases and both types of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs), zigzag (8,0) and armchair (5,5) to be electron transfer supports. Finally, the system’s electronic responses are observed.
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Nanotech 2007 Conference Program Abstract