Issue 30, 2017

Stabilizing bubble and droplet interfaces using dipeptide hydrogels

Abstract

Hydrophobic dipeptide molecules can be used to create interfacial films covering bubbles and droplets made from a range of oils. At high pH, the dipeptide molecules form micelles which transform into a hydrogel of fibres in response to the addition of salt. We characterize the properties of the hydrogel for two different salt (MgSO4) concentrations and then we use these gels to stabilize interfaces. Under high shear, the hydrogel is disrupted and will reform around bubbles or droplets. Here, we reveal that at low dipeptide concentration, the gel is too weak to prevent ripening of the bubbles; this then reduces the long-term stability of the foam. Under the same conditions, emulsions prepared from some oils are highly stable. We examine the wetting properties of the oil droplets at a hydrogel surface as a guide to the resulting emulsions.

Graphical abstract: Stabilizing bubble and droplet interfaces using dipeptide hydrogels

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 4 2017
Accepted
04 7 2017
First published
05 7 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017,15, 6342-6348

Stabilizing bubble and droplet interfaces using dipeptide hydrogels

F. Aviño, A. B. Matheson, D. J. Adams and P. S. Clegg, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017, 15, 6342 DOI: 10.1039/C7OB01053B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements