DNA-guided lattice remodeling of carbon nanotubes
Zhiwei Lin, Leticia C. Beltrán, Zeus A. De los Santos, Yinong Li, Tehseen Adel, Jeffrey Fagan, Angela R. Hight Walker, Edward H. Egelman, Ming Zheng
Abstract
Covalent modification of carbon nanotubes is a promising strategy for engineering their electronic structures. However, keeping modification sites in registration with a nanotube lattice is challenging. We report a solution using DNA-directed, guanine (G)-specific cross-linking chemistry. Through DNA screening we identify a sequence, C 3 GC 7 GC 3 , whose reaction with an (8,3) enantiomer yields minimum disorder-induced Raman mode intensities and photoluminescence Stokes shift, suggesting ordered defect array formation. Single-particle cryo–electron microscopy shows that the C 3 GC 7 GC 3 functionalized (8,3) has an ordered helical structure with a 6.5 angstroms periodicity. Reaction mechanism analysis suggests that the helical periodicity arises from an array of G-modified carbon-carbon bonds separated by a fixed distance along an armchair helical line. Our findings may be used to remodel nanotube lattices for novel electronic properties.