Rising use of nanoparticles (NPs) in many applications has brought concerns on the fate of these NPs in the environment and human body. In biological media, the composition of protein corona and its formation are directly related to the affinity between NP surfaces and amino acid sequences. This study will provide information to elucidate the potential impacts of manufactured and environmental metal oxide NPs in biological media. Effects of pH and NP type on adsorption of individual α-amino acids onto iron oxide (Fe2O3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs are discussed. Biomolecular interactions were probed with an attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Moreover, dynamic light scattering (DLS) is used to observe the changes to NP surface charge in the presence or absence of α-amino acids. Results show that the adsorption of a-amino acids onto NPs strongly depends on solution pH and the NP type. NP surface charge, aggregation behavior, and α-amino acid surface coverage are affected by changing pH. Overall, the results of this study provide insights into different transformations of NPs in aqueous environments; the effects of transformations onto biomolecule adsorption mechanisms; and the importance of the NP surface chemistry for further nano-bio interactions. This comprehensive work helps to better understand the fundamentals of NP interactions in the environment and biological media in order to build up to more complex systems, such as multi-component systems.

α-Amino acid adsorption onto metal oxide nanoparticles: A spectroscopic study to understand the effects of pH and particle type

2019 Fall National Meeting

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