title: Probing macromolecular adsorbed layer structure and history dependence via the interfacial cavity function.
abstract: Adsorbed layers of proteins and other macromolecules often relax structurally more slowly than they form, rendering layer growth an out-of-equilibrium process. We show here how the interfacial cavity function, Phi (the average Boltzmann factor for a single probe molecule), may be determined, using kinetic data available from optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy, and used as a continuous, in situ measure of history dependent adsorbed layer structure. The increase of Phi observed with residence time for fibronectin and lysozyme layers suggests post-adsorption clustering on a time scale longer than that predicted by a surface diffusion model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, USA.
authors.forename: Yanrong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tie
authors.forename: A Pascal
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ngankam
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Van Tassel
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D007700:Kinetics; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010316:Particle Size; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances