Adhesion of surfaces mediated by adsorbed particles: Monte Carlo simulations and a general relationship between adsorption isotherms and effective adhesion energies

Abstract

In colloidal and biological systems, interactions between surfaces are often mediated by adsorbed particles or molecules that interconnect the surfaces. In this article, we present a general relationship between the adsorption isotherms of the particles and the effective, particle-mediated adhesion energies of the surfaces. Our relationship is based on the analysis and modeling of detailed data from Monte Carlo simulations. As general properties that should hold for a wide class of adsorption scenarios, we find (i) that the particle-mediated adhesion energies of surfaces are maximal at intermediate bulk concentrations of the particles, and (ii) that the particle coverage in the bound state of the surfaces is twice the coverage in the unbound state at these bulk concentrations.

pH-Dependent Interaction and Resultant Structures of Silica Nanoparticles and Lysozyme Protein

“…A number of studies have been carried out to examine the adsorption of proteins on nanoparticles and its effect on the protein structure and activity using different techniques such as ellipsometry, reflectometry, circular dichroism (CD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and so forth. ,− The presence of protein is also known to cause interactional changes in the nanoparticle systems. − The tuning of interaction between nanoparticles, in particular, through the adsorption of different macromolecules, has been of recent great interest because the nanoparticle–protein system can lead from an enhancement in stabilization to the aggregation of particles. The dependence of particle-mediated adhesion energies on their adsorption curves have also been reported …”

“…The dependence of particle-mediated adhesion energies on their adsorption curves have also been reported. 24 The interaction between lysozyme protein and silica nanoparticles provides a system where both components are individual charge-stabilized colloids interacting via a short-range attractive potential combined with long-range repulsion. The interaction in their complexes between nanoparticles and protein is predominantly governed by the resultant electrostatic interactions that are known to lead to many nonspecific associations that are especially relevant to biological systems and have several important applications.…”