A SIMPLE MODEL OF DNA ADSORPTION ON CARBON NANOTUBE

Abstract

One of the major interaction mechanisms between carbon nanotubes (CNT) and DNA is $ \pi \mbox{-} \pi $ stacking, which is a van der Waals type of interaction. Attraction between the polycyclic aromatic surface elements of CNTs and the aromatic nucleotides of DNA leads to reversible adsorption (physisorption) between them. We propose to describe the ssDNA adsorption on CNT using zipper model and address the connection between the thermodynamics of adsorption and the flexibility of ssDNA.