Density functional theory investigation of interaction of zigzag (7,0) single-walled carbon nanotube with Watson–Crick DNA base pairs

A first-principles investigation of interaction of DNA base pairs on the outer surface of zigzag (7,0) single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) was carried out at the M05-2X/6-31G(d) level of geometry optimization and BSSE corrected interaction energy calculation using the same theoretical level and the 6-311G(d,p), cc-pVDZ and cc-pVTZ basis sets. Study revealed that CNT forms complexes of similar strength with both base pairs. Electron density maps suggest that complexes are characterized by stacking interaction through coupling of π-charge clouds of base pairs and CNT. BSSE corrected interaction energies and density of states calculations indicated the weak nature of interaction between base pairs and CNT.