Electrophoretically fabricated core-shell CNT-DNA biowires for biosensing

Abstract

In view of recent revelations and potential applications of the carbon nanotubes (CNT)-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanobiohybrids, we propose a mechanism of DNA wrapping onto functionalized CNT using principles of co-ordination chemistry. The core-shell structural biowire comprising of CNT and DNA has been fabricated viaelectrophoretic deposition technique and detailed morphological investigations have been carried out to ascertain the mechanism of biowire formation. The results of these studies reveal that during the biowire formation, Mg²⁺ ions provide the central metal ion with enhanced structural and catalytic activity for DNA and CNT to covalently co-ordinate to form a bi-cyclic chelate structure. Employing the synergy between the nanomaterial and biomolecule, DNA-Mg²⁺-CNT biowires can be used as a nanobioelectrode platform for development of a genosensor.