Towards selective detection of chiral molecules using SWNT sensors

Calculations are performed to demonstrate that chiral molecules should in principle be selectively detected on chiral semi-conducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. These nanotubes, when they are used in a resonator configuration, could discriminate the two enantiomers (left and right handed species) of an amino acid through the adsorption energy difference ΔW and through the resonance frequency shift ΔΔf directly connected to the permittivity change of the tubes due to the molecule adsorption. Application to the calculation of ΔW and ΔΔf for the adsorption of l and d-alanine on various chiral nanotubes defines the parameters which are crucial for an optimized detection.