Biological modification of carbon nanowalls with DNA strands and hybridization experiments with complementary and mismatched DNA

Carbon nanowalls (CNWs) are functionalized with short DNA strands. CNWs are a network of upstanding carbon flakes consisting of 4–6 graphene layers packed together. The biological modification of these structures is carried out via the photochemical attachment of an unsaturated fatty acid linker molecule, followed by an EDC-mediated reaction to bind amino-modified DNA strands to the linker. Hybridization experiments are done using complementary and mismatch DNA strands. Fluorescence microscopy shows a clear difference between EDC-negative and EDC-positive samples, supporting the covalent nature of the DNA attachment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the hybridization is highly selective and reproducible.