Anisotropic micro-cloths fabricated from DNA-stabilized carbon nanotubes: one-stop manufacturing with electrode needles

作者：Frusawa Hiroshi^*; Yoshii Gen

来源：Nanoscale Research Letters, 2015, 10(1): 107.

DOI：10.1186/s11671-015-0817-3

• Carbon nanotubes
• DNA
• Depletion
• Lyotropic liquid crystal
• Free-standing film
• Dielectrophoresis
• Biofuel cell

Among a variety of solution-based approaches to fabricate anisotropic films of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs), we focus on the dielectrophoretic assembly method using AC electric fields in DNA-stabilized CNT suspensions. We demonstrate that a one-stop manufacturing system using electrode needles can draw anisotropic DNA-CNT hybrid films of 10 to 100 mu m in size (i.e., free-standing DNA-CNT micro-cloths) from the remaining suspension into the atmosphere while maintaining structural order. It has been found that a maximal degree of polarization (ca. 40%) can be achieved by micro-cloths fabricated from a variety of DNA-CNT mixtures. Our results suggest that the one-stop method can impart biocompatibility to the downsized CNT films and that the DNA-stabilized CNT micro-cloths directly connected to an electrode could be useful for biofuel cells in terms of electron transfer and/or enzymatic activity.

• 出版日期2015-3-1