Cationic versus anionic surfactant in tuning the structure and interaction of nanoparticle, protein, and surfactant...

The structure and interaction in complexes of anionic Ludox HS40 silica nanoparticle, anionic bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein, and cationic dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) surfactant have been studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The results are compared with similar complexes having anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant (Mehan, S; Chinchalikar, A. J.; Kumar, S.; Aswal, V. K.; Schweins, R. Langmuir 2013, 29, 11290). In both cases (DTAB and SDS), the structure in nanoparticle-protein-surfactant complexes is predominantly determined by the interactions of the individual two-component systems. The nanoparticle-surfactant (mediated through protein-surfactant complex) and protein-surfactant interactions for DTAB, but nanoparticle-protein (mediated through protein-surfactant complex) and protein-surfactant interactions for SDS, are found to be responsible for the resultant structure of nanoparticle-protein-surfactant complexes. Irrespective of the charge on the surfactant, the cooperative binding of surfactant with protein leads to micellelike clusters of surfactant formed along the unfolded protein chain. The adsorption of these protein-surfactant complexes for DTAB on oppositely charged nanoparticles gives rise to the protein-surfactant complex-mediated aggregation of nanoparticles (similar to that of DTAB surfactant). It is unlike that of depletion-induced aggregation of nanoparticles with nonadsorption of protein-surfactant complexes for SDS in similarly charged nanoparticle systems (similar to that of protein alone). The modifications in nanoparticle aggregation as well as unfolding of protein in these systems as compared to the corresponding two-component systems have also been examined by selectively contrast matching the constituents.