Detection of amino acids encapsulation and adsorption with dielectric carbon nanotube.

Calculations of the interaction energy and dielectric responses of single-walled carbon nanotubes to the presence of amino acid inside (encapsulation) or outside (adsorption) the nanotube are carried out. It is shown that the frequency shifts of selected nanotubes conveniently tailored to the size of the probed molecules and used in a resonator configuration can selectively detect the position (encapsulated or adsorbed in the tube) of different species. We demonstrate in particular that adsorption outside the nanotube is better detected than encapsulation whatever the amino acid tested. Without explicitly dealing with drug delivery, these calculations represent the first step toward the detection of amino acids encapsulation in potential drug vector.