Issue 35, 2017

One-step formulation of nonionic surfactant bicelles (NSBs) by a double-tailed polyglycerol-type nonionic surfactant

Abstract

Bicelles are generally formed by phospholipid-based systems and are useful for various applications, such as nanocarriers or membrane protein crystallization. The same disc-like assemblies, nonionic surfactant bicelles (NSBs), can also be formed using nonionic amphiphiles, but this has not been reported extensively. We report a novel NSB system that employs the double-tailed nonionic amphiphile, polyglyceryl dialkyl ether (C12CmGn), which has two alkyl chains and a polyglyceryl group. A symmetric-tail molecule, C12C12G13.8, formed vesicles, whereas an asymmetric-tail molecule, C12C14G15.5, formed NSBs through a simple one-step process using ultrasonication. The 1 wt% aqueous solution of C12C14G15.5 was in a two-phase equilibrium of a lamellar phase and a water phase. Transparent dispersion was obtained through ultrasonication treatment. The size distribution in the dispersion was obtained by dynamic light scattering (DLS), resulting in a narrow distribution of around 20 nm in diameter. A negatively-stained transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image showed oblong and spherical shapes, which are typically observed in bicelle-forming systems. A small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurement well proved bicelle formation by fitting a core–shell bicelle form factor model. The disc thickness and diameter were in agreement with the values obtained by DLS and TEM, respectively. A larger shell thickness at the rim part than at the flat disc part suggested that NSB aggregates have inhomogeneous molecular distribution. Similar to phospholipid systems, the bicelle-forming C12C14G15.5 system produced a defective lamellar phase formation at high surfactant concentrations, whereas a general lamellar phase was formed in the vesicle-forming C12C12G13.8 system.

Graphical abstract: One-step formulation of nonionic surfactant bicelles (NSBs) by a double-tailed polyglycerol-type nonionic surfactant

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 апр. 2017
Accepted
09 мај 2017
First published
09 мај 2017

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017,19, 23802-23808

One-step formulation of nonionic surfactant bicelles (NSBs) by a double-tailed polyglycerol-type nonionic surfactant

K. Aramaki, C. Iwata, J. Mata, T. Maehara, D. Aburano, Y. Sakanishi and K. Kitao, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017, 19, 23802 DOI: 10.1039/C7CP02585H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, 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 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