Nanobubbles influence on BSA adsorption on mica surface

Nanobubbles have been shown to exist at liquid/solid interfaces and have become the focus of research in varied interfacial processes. In the present work, bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed on mica was used as a model system to investigate the effect of nanobubbles on protein adsorption at the liquid/solid interface. The adsorption of BSA on mica in two types of surfaces, with and without nanobubbles, was imaged by means of an atomic force microscope (AFM) in both liquid and air. By comparing the data from the two groups, it has been shown clearly that the adsorption of BSA was indeed influenced by the nanobubbles. Generally, nanobubbles blocked BSA adsorption and resulted in circular hollows on the BSA films on mica. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.