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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 42: Biotechnology and bioengineering

BP 42.9: Talk

Friday, April 4, 2014, 11:45–12:00, HÜL 386

Tiny nanodiamonds as potential DNA detectors — •Ganesh Sivaraman and Maria Fyta — Institute for Computational Physics. University of Stuttgart, Allmandring 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Diamondoids are tiny hydrogen-terminated diamond clusters with a variety of doping and functionalization possibilities. These nanostructures can show strong quantum confinement effects and are potential candidates as nanoscale biosensors. Along these lines, we investigate the possibility of chemically modified diamondoids to detect biomolecules, such as DNA. Quantum mechanical calculations are performed to study the specific interactions of diamondoids with DNA units and reveal the bonding characteristics and distinguishable electronic properties of diamondoid-DNA complexes. At a second step, we perform electronic transport measurements along a DNA placed between two diamondoid-functionalized surfaces in order to reveal whether the diamondoid can enhance the electronic signal differences arising from different DNA units. In the end, we discuss the relevance of our results in view of biosensing applications and specifically nanopore sequencing of DNA.