Low concentrations of cationic silica nanoparticles impact lung surfactant membrane structure while anionic nanoparticles have minimal effect.

The interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) with pulmonary surfactant is important for understanding the potential adverse effects of inhaled engineered and incidental nanomaterials. The effects of a low concentration (0.001 wt %) of charged, hydrophilic silica NPs of hydrodynamic diameter of ∼20 nm on the phase behavior and lateral structure of lipid-only and naturally derived surfactant monolayers were investigated at the air/water interface using surface pressure–area isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy, respectively. Atomic force microscopy was used to image the morphology of films transferred onto mica substrate with nanometer resolution. We show that the silica NPs can significantly alter the condensed domain size and shape even in the absence of apparent differences in the monolayer compression isotherms. The cationic particles notably induce structural and morphological progressions in a binary model containing anionic phosphoglycerol that are similar to those observed for the natural surfactant film that contains cationic proteins. These findings specifically highlight the impact of the NP charge on the phase transformations in pulmonary surfactant, with implications for the engineering of nanomaterials for commercial use and bioapplications.

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