Issue 40, 2016

Elucidating the mechanisms of nanodiamond-promoted structural disruption of crystallised lipid

Abstract

The removal or structural disruption of crystallised lipid is a pivotal but energy-intensive step in a wide range of industrial and biological processes. Strategies to disrupt the structure of crystallised lipid in aqueous solution at lower temperatures are much needed, where nanoparticle-based strategies show enormous promise. Using the aqueous tristearin bilayer as a model for crystallised lipid, we demonstrate that the synergistic use of surfactant and detonation nanodiamonds can depress the onset temperature at which disruption of the crystallised lipid structure occurs. Our simulations reveal the molecular-scale mechanisms by which this disruption takes place, indicating that the nanodiamonds serve a dual purpose. First, the nanodiamonds are predicted to facilitate delivery of surfactant to the lipid/water interface, and second, nanodiamond adsorption acts to roughen the lipid/water interface, enhancing ingress of surfactant into the bilayer. We find the balance of the hydrophobic surface area of the nanodiamond and the nanodiamond surface charge density to be a key determinant of the effectiveness of using nanodiamonds to facilitate lipid disruption. For the nanodiamond size considered here, we identify a moderate surface charge density, that ensures the nanodiamonds are neither too hydrophobic nor too hydrophilic, to be optimal.

Graphical abstract: Elucidating the mechanisms of nanodiamond-promoted structural disruption of crystallised lipid

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 May 2016
Accepted
14 Sep 2016
First published
14 Sep 2016

Soft Matter, 2016,12, 8338-8347

Author version available

Elucidating the mechanisms of nanodiamond-promoted structural disruption of crystallised lipid

Z. E. Hughes and T. R. Walsh, Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 8338 DOI: 10.1039/C6SM01155A

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