Maria Bous gewinnt auf der European Detergence Conference in Fulda einen Posterpreis.
Titel: Study of surfactant structures on solid surfaces directly in solution by high resolution fluorescence microscopy
Abstract:
For detergents, cleansers, cosmetic products and numerous other applications the stabilization of solid-liquid dispersions by means of surface-active substances is crucial. For a better understanding and the possibility to control these stabilizing processes, it is essential to explore the aggregation structures of surfactants on solid surfaces. For this aim a new approach to directly image these aggregates on surfaces has been investigated.
Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is beneficial for imaging structures at solid-liquid-interfaces. The environment-sensitive probe nile red has been used as fluorescent reporter for hydrophobic micelle cores. To be able to identify surfactant aggregates on the nanometer scale the so called PAINT method was applied.
In this study, the combination of TIRF microscopy and PAINT processing has been applied in order to image and analyze surfactant structures adsorbed onto glass surfaces of different polarity under ambient conditions. Liposomes could be imaged directly at the solid-liquid-interface at room temperature. Micelles of nonionic surfactants showed spherical aggregates with radii of 20-30 nm or monolayers on glass surfaces of different polarity.