Departament d'Enginyeria Quimica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili , 26 Av. dels Paisos Catalans, 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
ACS Nano. 2011 Feb 22;5(2):1141-6. doi: 10.1021/nn102763b. Epub 2011 Jan 5.
Nanotube patterning may occur naturally upon the spontaneous self-assembly of biomolecules onto the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). It results in periodically alternating bands of surface properties, ranging from relatively hydrophilic to hydrophobic, along the axis of the nanotube. Single-chain mean field (SCMF) theory has been used to estimate the free energy of systems in which a surface patterned nanotube penetrates a phospholipid bilayer. In contrast to unpatterned nanotubes with uniform surface properties, certain patterned nanotubes have been identified that display a relatively low and approximately constant system free energy (<±10 kT) as the nanotube traverses through the bilayer. These observations support the hypothesis that the spontaneous self-assembly of biomolecules on the surface of SWNTs may facilitate nanotube transduction through cell membranes.
纳米管图案化可能会在生物分子自发自组装到单壁碳纳米管（SWNTs）表面时自然发生。这导致沿着纳米管的轴周期性地交替出现表面性质带，从相对亲水到疏水。单链平均场（SCMF）理论已被用于估计表面图案化纳米管穿透磷脂双层的系统的自由能。与具有均匀表面性质的非图案化纳米管相比，已经确定了某些图案化纳米管，它们显示出相对较低且大致恒定的系统自由能（<±10 kT），当纳米管穿过双层时。这些观察结果支持这样的假设，即生物分子在 SWNTs 表面的自发自组装可能有助于纳米管穿过细胞膜的转导。
