The structure of the adsorbed protein layer at the oil/water interface is essential to the understanding of the role of proteins in emulsion stabilization, and it is important to glean the mechanistic events of protein adsorption at such buried interfaces. This article reports on a novel experimental methodology for probing protein adsorption at the buried oil/water interface. Neutron reflectivity was used with a carefully selected set of isotopic contrasts to study the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) at the hexadecane/water interface, and the results were compared to those for the air/water interface. The adsorption isotherm was determined at the isoelectric point, and the results showed that a higher degree of adsorption could be achieved at the more hydrophobic interface. The adsorbed BSA molecules formed a monolayer on the aqueous side of the interface. The molecules in this layer were partially denatured by the presence of oil, and once released from the spatial constraint by the globular framework they were free to establish more favorable interactions with the hydrophobic medium. Thus, a loose layer extending toward the oil phase was clearly observed, resulting in an overall broader interface. By analogy to the air/water interface, as the concentration of BSA increased to 1.0 mg mL(-1) a secondary layer extending toward the aqueous phase was observed, possibly resulting from the steric repulsion upon the saturation of the primary monolayer. Results clearly indicate a more compact arrangement of molecules at the oil/water interface: this must be caused by the loss of the globular structure as a consequence of the denaturing action of the hexadecane.
Keratins are a group of important proteins in skin and hair and as biomaterials they can provide desirable properties such as strength, biocompatibility, and moisture regaining and retaining. The aim of this work is to develop water-soluble keratin polypeptides from sheep wool and then explore how their surface adsorption behaves with and without surfactants. Successful preparation of keratin samples was demonstrated by identification of the key components from gel electrophoresis and the reproducible production of gram scale samples with and without SDS (sodium dodecylsulphate) during wool fibre dissolution. SDS micelles could reduce the formation of disulphide bonds between keratins during extraction, reducing inter-molecular crosslinking and improving keratin polypeptide solubility. However, Zeta potential measurements of the two polypeptide batches demonstrated almost identical pH dependent surface charge distributions with isoelectric points around pH 3.5, showing complete removal of SDS during purification by dialysis. In spite of different solubility from the two batches of keratin samples prepared, very similar adsorption and aggregation behavior was revealed from surface tension measurements and dynamic light scattering. Mixing of keratin polypeptides with SDS and C12TAB (dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide) led to the formation of keratin-surfactant complexes that were substantially more effective at reducing surface tension than the polypeptides alone, showing great promise in the delivery of keratin polypeptides via the surface active complexes. Neutron reflection measurements revealed the coexistence of surfactant and keratin polypeptides at the interface, thus providing the structural support to the observed surface tension changes associated with the formation of the surface active complexes.