The interaction between cells and carbon nanotubes (CNT) is a critical issue that will determine any future biological application of such structures. In this communication we will show that various types of functionalized-carbon nanotubes (f-CNT) exhibit a capacity to be uptaken by a wide range of cells (prokaryotic and eukaryotic) and can intracellularly traffick through different cellular ba...

Here, we report the label-free, sensitive, and real-time electrical detection of whole viruses using carbon nanotube thin film (CNT-TF) field effect devices. Selective detection of approximately 550 model viruses, M13-bacteriophage, is demonstrated using a simple two-terminal (no gate electrode) configuration. Chemical gating through specific antibody-virus binding on CNT surface is proposed to...

The construction of carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNT-FETs) can be accomplished by techniques such as spin coating, dielectrophoresis (DEP), and chemical vapor deposition, among which DEP has advantages in terms of the ease of manufacturability and the potential of scalability. In this study, we improved on DEP trapping of CNTs by demonstrating that CNT-FETs of CNT networks with hig...

Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by Sumio Iijima in 1991 [1], they have been of great interest to the nanotechnology community. In this work, we explored microfluidic drop generators to fabricate CNT microdrops with a controlled geometry and fast throughput. On the one hand, CNT microdrops were assembled using CNTs water suspensions in oil. On the other hand, we explored the fabri...

First-principles and nonequilibrium Green's function techniques are used to investigate magnetism and spin-polarized quantum transport in metallic carbon nanotubes (CNT) decorated with transition metal (Ni(13), Pt(13)) magnetic nanoclusters (NC). For small cluster sizes, the strong CNT-NC interaction induces spin-polarization in the CNT. The adsorption of a benzene molecule is found to drastica...

A density functional theory approach is employed to investigate poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) interfaced with both a semiconducting and metallic carbon nanotube (CNT). For the semiconducting CNT, a type-II heterojunction can form, making such an interface desirable as a photovoltaic heterojunction. In contrast, with the metallic CNT, substantial charge redistribution occurs and the interaction i...

Carbon nanotube (CNT) based sensors are often fabricated by dispersing CNTs into different types of polymer. In this paper, a prototype carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn strain sensor with excellent repeatability and stability for in situ structural health monitoring was developed. The CNT yarn was spun directly from CNT arrays, and its electrical resistance increased linearly with tensile strain, mak...

Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed using the PBE (Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof) exchange-correlation functional1 and double-zeta plus polarization basis set of SIESTA-type numerical orbitals as implemented in the ATK package2. London dispersion interactions were included in the total bonding energy as proposed by Grimme3. The interfacial strength4 (ideal work of separatio...

Carbon-coated, carbon nanotube (CNT)/tin(oxide) spongy coaxial nanostructures, CNT/Sn(O(2))@C, with large areal mass loadings have been developed by employing a three-dimensional CNT sponge as a backbone. The freestanding spongy coaxial nano-architecture demonstrates exceptional electrochemical characteristics of tin-based anode materials with appropriate structural engineering for energy stora...