Issue 22, 2012
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Mapping the nano-scale interaction between bio-colloidal Giardia lamblia cysts and silica

Anne-Mari J. Ruohola,ad   Robert F. Considine,b   David R. Dixon,c   Celesta Fonga  and  Calum J. Drummond*a  

* Corresponding authors

a CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia
E-mail: calum.drummond@csiro.au
Tel: +61 3 9545 2050

b Melbourne Water Corporation, East Melbourne, VIC 3002, Australia

c Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia

d Orion Pharma, Orionintie 1A Espoo, Finland
E-mail: anne-mari.virtanen@orionpharma.com

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to measure the force of interaction between individual cysts of Giardia lamblia (bio-colloids) and an amorphous silica surface (hydrolysed silicon nitride AFM tip). The ζ-potentials of the cysts were calculated from microelectrophoresis data, and were compared with the information obtained from AFM force measurements. The dominant long-range force of interaction between cysts and the silica surfaces was steric in origin, with the magnitude of the steric force decreasing with decreasing pH. The decay length of the steric force decreased with an increase in the ionic strength and a decrease in pH. The cysts may be compressed by the pressures applied during the force measurements, with the surface compressibility reported herein as the interfacial spring constant. An increase in the interfacial spring constant occurred with a decrease in pH; indicative of the collapse of surface macromolecules. The information gained from the measurement of the interaction between G. lamblia and this model sand-like surface may assist optimisation of water treatment processes for the removal of cysts.

Graphical abstract: Mapping the nano-scale interaction between bio-colloidal Giardia lamblia cysts and silica

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2SM25595B
Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Mar 2012
Accepted
16 Apr 2012
First published
30 Apr 2012

Soft Matter, 2012,8, 6083-6091

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Mapping the nano-scale interaction between bio-colloidal Giardia lamblia cysts and silica

A. J. Ruohola, R. F. Considine, D. R. Dixon, C. Fong and C. J. Drummond, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 6083 DOI: 10.1039/C2SM25595B

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