Arginine side chains as a dispersant for individual single-wall carbon nanotubes

Charged peptides and proteins disperse single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in aqueous solutions. However, little is known about the role of their side chains in their interactions with SWCNTs. Homopolypeptide-SWCNT systems are ideal for investigating the mechanisms of such interactions. In this study, we demonstrate that SWCNTs are individually dispersed by poly-L-arginine (PLA). The debundled SWCNTs exhibited a distinct fluorescence. The dispersibility of SWCNTs with PLA was greater than that of SWCNTs with poly-L-lysine (PLL). Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the side chains of PLA have stronger interactions with the sidewalls of SWCNTs compared with those of PLL. The guanidinium group at the end of the side chain of an arginine residue plays an important role in the interaction with SWCNTs, likely through hydrophobic, van der Waals, and π-π interactions. PLA can be useful as a tool for the dispersion of SWCNTs and can be used to non-covalently anchor materials to SWCNTs with strong binding.