Methods for separating and identifying nucleic acids utilize carbon coated magnetic beads. The method teaches that multivalent cations promote binding of single stranded nucleic acids to the beads and that the single stranded nucleic acids can be released with the addition of chelating agents that bind the multivalent cations such as EDTA. The method further teaches that fragile single stranded nucleic acids, such as RNA, can be stored on the surface of the beads. Lastly, the method also teaches that by iteratively adding complimentary DNA oligos, single stranded nucleic acids can be quantified or individually isolated using the carbon coated magnetic beads.