Nondestructive Raman and atomic force microscopy measurement of molecular structure for individual diphenylalanine nanotubes.

Polarized Raman microspectroscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to measure molecular orientation in individual diphenylalanine nanotubes (diameters ranging from 100 nm to 1000 nm). Analysis of the amide I Raman bands (1686 cm(-1)) indicated that the C=O side chains have a parallel alignment with the nanotube axis. The amide III Raman band (1249 cm(-1)) associated with the peptide backbone C-N vibrations showed that these bonds are preferentially aligned perpendicular to the nanotube axis. However, the Raman band corresponding to the symmetric breathing mode of the aromatic rings (1002 cm(-1)) indicated a rather random orientation. These results support the theoretical molecular structure models proposed recently.