Oligodeoxyribonucleotide Association with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Studied by SPM

Studies have been performed on both as‐received and chemically oxidized single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) grown by two different growth methods to better understand the preferential association of the oligodeoxyribonucleotide T30 (ODN) with SWCNTs. Samples of T30 ODN:SWCNT were examined under ambient conditions using non‐contact scanning probe microscope (SPM) techniques. The resulting images show different morphologies ranging from tangled networks of SWCNTs to individual, well‐dispersed isolated SWCNTs as the sonication time is increased. SPM images of well‐dispersed, as‐received SWCNTs reveal isolated features that are 1.4 to 2.8 nm higher than the bare SWCNT itself. X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed these features to be T30 ODN in nature. Chemically oxidizing the SWCNTs before sonication is found to be an effective way to increase the number of T30 ODN features. A probing report: A systematic scanning probe microscopy study of the hybrids formed when oligodeoxyribonucleotide (T30 ODN) is sonicated with single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) reveals images of well‐dispersed SWCNTs decorated with isolated features that are attributed to T30 ODN (see image). Chemically oxidizing the SWCNTs before sonication is found to increase the number of these T30 ODN features.