Polarization component of cohesion energy in single-wall carbon nanotube-DNA complexes

Within the framework of a quantum mechanical model, the polarization component of the energy of cohesion of an ionized DNA molecule to the surface of a nanotube has been calculated. Neglecting the polarization of the DNA, and in the absence of external screening, the binding energy is ~0.47 eV per elementary charge. The effective nanotube screening parameter is ~2 and cannot be reduced to classical expressions for metallic and dielectric screening.