Carbon nanotubes are promising nanoscale building blocks for molecular devices ranging from molecular electronics to ultra-sensitive biosensors, thanks to their unique electrical and structural features. Creating intricate nanodevices requires the precise patterning of carbon nanotube arrays. However, creating such complex and carefully aligned structures at nanometer scales is a challenge for researchers, especially in large-scale fabrication [1]. Inspired by peptide self-assembly processes [2] and by the interaction of carbon nanotubes with aromatic amino acids [3-4], we have developed a simple protocol to assemble peptide-attached carbon nanotubes on a substrate surface, on which patterns were created by peptide functionalization. This strategy appears promising in the fabrication of carbon nanotube circuits with single-nanotube precision, and may enable nanotube-based devices, such as nano-biosensors, to be produced industrially.
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