Self-assembling peptide coatings designed for highly luminescent suspension of single-walled carbon nanotubes.
A series of self-assembling multidomain peptides have been designed, synthesized, and tested for their ability to individually suspend single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in water while preserving strong near-IR nanotube luminescence. Photometric and spectral measurements on individual SWCNTs revealed that emission in the common biocompatible coating agents Pluronic F127, ss-DNA, and BSA is approximately an order of magnitude weaker than in the bioincompatible ionic surfactant SDBS. By contrast, one of the engineered peptides gave SWCNT emission approximately 40% as intense as in SDBS. A strong inverse correlation was also found between the spectral line widths of coated SWCNTs and the efficiency of their emission. Peptides with rationally designed self-assembly properties appear to be promising coatings that may enable SWCNT optical sensing applications in biological environments.
Tsyboulski
Dmitri A
DA
Department of Chemistry, R.E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Bakota
Erica L
EL
Witus
Leah S
LS
Rocha
John-David R
JD
Hartgerink
Jeffrey D
JD
Weisman
R Bruce
RB
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry; D049449:Luminescence; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry
D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D010455:Peptides; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine