A synthetically modified hydrophobin showing enhanced fluorous affinity.
Hydrophobins are natural surfactant proteins endowed with exceptional surface activity and film-forming capabilities and their use as effective "fluorine-free fluorosurfactants" has been recently reported. In order to increase their fluorophilicity further, here we report the preparation of a unique fluorous-modified hydrophobin, named F-HFBI. F-HFBI was found to be more effective than its wild-type parent protein HFBI at reducing interface tension of water at both air/water and oil/water interfaces, being particularly effective at the fluorous/water interface. F-HFBI was also found to largely retain the exceptionally good capability of forming strong and elastic films, typical of the hydrophobin family. Further studies by interface shear rheology and isothermal compression, alongside Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Atomic Force Microscopy, demonstrated the tendency of F-HFBI to form thicker films compared to the wild-type protein. These results suggest that F-HFBI may function as an effective compatibilizer for biphasic systems comprising a fluorous phase.
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Biologinkuja 7, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland; Center for Nano Science and Technology@Polimi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via G. Pascoli 70, I-20133 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: roberto.milani@vtt.fi.
Roberto
R
Milani
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland; NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: ext-lisa.pirrie@vtt.fi.
Lisa
L
Pirrie
NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: lara.gazzera@polimi.it.
Lara
L
Gazzera
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: arja.paananen@vtt.fi.
Arja
A
Paananen
NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: michele.baldrighi@iit.it.
Michele
M
Baldrighi
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland. Electronic address: evanthia.monogioudi@ec.europa.eu.
Evanthia
E
Monogioudi
NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: gabriella.cavallo@polimi.it.
Gabriella
G
Cavallo
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland; Aalto University, School of Chemical Technology, Kemistintie 1, P.O. Box 16100, FI-00076 AALTO Espoo, Finland. Electronic address: markus.linder@aalto.fi.
Markus
M
Linder
Center for Nano Science and Technology@Polimi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via G. Pascoli 70, I-20133 Milano, Italy; NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: giuseppe.resnati@polimi.it.
Giuseppe
G
Resnati
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, Espoo FI-02044 VTT, Finland; Center for Nano Science and Technology@Polimi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via G. Pascoli 70, I-20133 Milano, Italy; NFMLab-DCMIC "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, I-20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: pierangelo.metrangolo@polimi.it.
Pierangelo
P
Metrangolo
D000327:Adsorption; D005461:Fluorine / Q000737:chemistry*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D054879:Halogenation; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008958:Models, Molecular; D058525:Quartz Crystal Microbalance Techniques; D012212:Rheology; D013500:Surface Tension; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
D005656:Fungal Proteins; D014867:Water; D005461:Fluorine
Compatibilization; Fluorinated material; Fluorous tag; Hydrophobin; Protein film formation; Surfactant protein