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Title: In Situ Adsorption Studies at the Solid/Liquid Interface:Characterization of Biological Surfaces and Interfaces Using SumFrequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy,and Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Thesis/Dissertation ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/883802· OSTI ID:883802
 [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) have been used to study the molecular surface structure, surface topography and mechanical properties, and quantitative adsorbed amount of biological molecules at the solid-liquid interface. The molecular-level behavior of designed peptides adsorbed on hydrophobic polystyrene and hydrophilic silica substrates has been examined as a model of protein adsorption on polymeric biomaterial surfaces. Proteins are such large and complex molecules that it is difficult to identify the features in their structure that lead to adsorption and interaction with solid surfaces. Designed peptides which possess secondary structure provide simple model systems for understanding protein adsorption. Depending on the amino acid sequence of a peptide, different secondary structures (α-helix and β-sheet) can be induced at apolar (air/liquid or air/solid) interfaces. Having a well-defined secondary structure allows experiments to be carried out under controlled conditions, where it is possible to investigate the affects of peptide amino acid sequence and chain length, concentration, buffering effects, etc. on adsorbed peptide structure. The experiments presented in this dissertation demonstrate that SFG vibrational spectroscopy can be used to directly probe the interaction of adsorbing biomolecules with a surface or interface. The use of well designed model systems aided in isolation of the SFG signal of the adsorbing species, and showed that surface functional groups of the substrate are sensitive to surface adsorbates. The complementary techniques of AFM and QCM allowed for deconvolution of the effects of surface topography and coverage from the observed SFG spectra. Initial studies of biologically relevant surfaces are also presented: SFG spectroscopy was used to study the surface composition of common soil bacteria for use in bioremediation of nuclear waste.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
883802
Report Number(s):
LBNL-60175; R&D Project: 517101; BnR: KC0203010; TRN: US0603573
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English