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DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Diameter-dependent bending dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes in liquids
Nikta Fakhri1, Dmitri A Tsyboulski, Laurent Cognet
1Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry, NanoCarbon Center, Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, and RE Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
Abstract:
By relating nanotechnology to soft condensed matter, understanding the mechanics and dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in fluids is crucial for both fundamental and applied science. Here, we study the Brownian bending dynamics of individual chirality-assigned SWCNTs in water by fluorescence microscopy. The bending stiffness scales as the cube of the nanotube diameter and the shape relaxation times agree with the semiflexible chain model. This suggests that SWCNTs may be the archetypal semiflexible filaments, highly suited to act as nanoprobes in complex fluids or biological systems.
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