Instability and translocation through nanopores of DNA interacting with single-layer materials

In this study, we use classical applied mathematical modelling to employ the 6-12 Lennard-Jones potential function along with the continuous approximation to investigate the interaction energies between a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) molecule and two-dimensional nanomaterials, namely graphene (GRA), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), and tungsten disulphide (WS2). Assuming that the dsDNA molecule has a perpendicular distance Delta above the nano-sheet surface, we calculated the molecular interaction energy and determined the relation between the location of the minimum energy and Delta. We also investigated the interaction of a dsDNA molecule with the surface of each nano-sheet in the presence of a circular hole simulating a nanopore. The radius of the nanopore that results in the minimum energy was determined. Our results show that the adsorption energies of the dsDNA molecule with GRA, h-BN, MoS2, and WS(2)nano-sheets corresponding to the perpendicular distance Delta= 20 angstrom are approximately 70, 82, 28, and 26 (kcal mol(-1)), respectively, and we observed that the dsDNA molecule moves through nanopores of radii greater than 12.2 angstrom.