Multiwalled carbon nanotubes for dielectric sensing of biological systems: An effective treatment of polarization

We determine the efficiency of semi-conducting multiwalled carbon nanotubes in resonator configuration acting as sensors of biological systems. The resonance frequency shifts due to the dielectric changes of the resonator upon adsorption of highly idealized micelles schematized by a set of concentric shells of polarizable centers surrounded by a water shell to mimic the solvent are calculated on the basis of an effective polarizability distribution in the tube and the sensed system. Cylindrical and spherical geometries including different sizes are considered for the micelles to show that size and geometry selectivity could be reached with such an approach.