Patent ID: 7759063

Claim:
A method of orienting a carbon nanotube comprising: obtaining a nucleic acid, a carbon nanotube, and a substrate comprising a plurality of material phases; functionalizing the nucleic acid with functional groups having affinity for some of said plurality of material phases so that a distance between said functional groups differs from an average distance between the plurality of material phases by an amount of up to about 40%; optionally functionalizing the carbon nanotube with at least one functional group; forming a nucleic acid-carbon nanotube molecular composite by performing at least one of the following: i) disposing the functionalized nucleic acid on an unfunctionalized carbon nanotube; and ii) disposing the functionalized nucleic acid on the functionalized carbon nanotube; adsorbing the nucleic acid-carbon nanotube molecular composite upon the substrate; wherein functional groups of the nucleic acid-carbon nanotube molecular composite have an affinity for at least one of the plurality of material phases of the substrate; and orienting the nucleic acid-carbon nanotube molecular composite so that it contacts two or more identical material phases by selective contact of the functional groups having the affinity for the identical material phases.