The Effect of DNA-Dispersed Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on the Polymerase Chain Reaction

The unique properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) make them useful in many new technologies and applications. The interaction of DNA and SWCNT is of interest for many uses, including molecular sensors. This study determined polymerase chain reaction (PCR) efficiency in amplifying a 76 base pair DNA sequence in the presence of SWCNT, of heterogeneous “Mix” and (6,5)-enriched chiralities, associated with three DNA sequences. The dependence of PCR efficiency on the concentration of DNA:SWCNT preparations was measured, as well as their age and level of dispersion (less than one month or between four and ten months). Additionally, the ability to directly amplify the DNA sequence associated with the SWCNT scaffold was investigated. In PCRs with DNA:SWCNT preparations less than one month old, concentrations greater than or equal to 0.1 mg/mL inhibited the PCR reaction. In PCRs with older preparations, no inhibition was seen at 0.01 or 0.1 mg/mL, with amplification at 1 mg/mL in some samples. Additionally, our studies showed that the DNA directly associated with the SWCNT can be amplified using PCR. This work provides an inhibitory concentration of DNA-dispersed SWCNT in PCR reactions for different preparations as well as a basis for future DNA:SWCNT studies that require PCR amplification. This will be useful for future studies focused on the use of SWCNT in molecular sensing technologies.