Peptide encapsulation regulated by the geometry of carbon nanotubes

In this work the encapsulation of an α-helical peptide in single carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with similar diameter and length but different geometry (armchair and zigzag) was investigated through molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations. Our simulation results showed that in vacuo it makes no evident difference whether the investigated peptide is encapsulated in armchair or zigzag CNTs; however, in aqueous solution the armchair CNT encapsulates the peptide remarkably easier than the zigzag CNT does. A detailed analysis revealed that the equilibrium conformation of the water molecules inside the CNTs with varying geometry mediates the peptide encapsulation. It suggests that the water molecules play an important role in regulating behaviors of biomolecules in bio-systems. Then the impact of the CNT geometry on the conformational changes of the confined peptide was studied. Analyses of secondary structures showed the α-helix of the peptide could be better maintained in the zigzag CNT.