title: Structural characterization of polyhydroxy fatty acid nanoparticles related to plant lipid biopolyesters.
abstract: In the present work, we report the physico-chemical properties and structural characteristics of special polyhydroxy fatty acid nanoparticles after their fusion by means of attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and light microscopy. All the characteristics and properties investigated have an important degree of similarity to the native plant cutin, the main biopolymer present in the plant cuticles. The supramolecular organization of these polymerized prime nanoparticles after their interaction on cellulose substrate and isolated cuticle samples, simulating the in vivo conditions in epidermal plant cells, strongly suggests a growth of these nanoparticles after a self-assembly process.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencias de Materiales de Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla-CSIC, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Heredia-Guerrero
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luna
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Benítez
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heredia
mesh_terms: D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D011091:Polyesters