Luminescent Rare-Earth Complex Covalently Modified Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Design, Synthesis, and DNA Sequence-Dependent Red Luminescence Enhancement

A novel luminescent Eu3+-complex functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) was constructed by covalent linkage through a diaminotriethylene glycol linker. TGA, FT-IR, and SEM demonstrated successful attachment of the Eu3+-complex onto the SWNT surface. Spectroscopic methods showed that the SWNT-Eu3+ complex is highly luminescent and DNA can further enhance the red luminescence, and the enhancement depends on DNA sequence and form. The order of the enhancement follows: AT alternative dsDNA > nonalternative AT dsDNA > GC dsDNA > ssDNA dA > ssDNA dT > ssDNA (GT)(20).