Thermodynamic, kinetic and conformational analysis of proteins diffusion-sorption on a solid surface.

In this paper we examine particularly some of the more fundamental properties of protein conformational changes at a solid surface coupled with diffusion from the bulk of an aqueous solution and with the adsorption-desorption processes. We focus our attention on adsorbed protein monolayers upon a solid surface using a thermodynamic and kinetic analytical development. Account is also taken of the effects on the overall rate of the conformational change on a solid surface of deviation from ideality, of protein flexibility, of surface free energy and of interaction with reactive solid sites.

Reactions of dipolar bio-molecules in nano-capsules--example of folding-unfolding process.

The confinement of chemical reactions in nano-capsules can lead to a dramatic effect on the equilibrium constant of these latter. Indeed, capillary effects due to the curvature and surface energy of nano-capsules can alter in a noticeable way the evolution of reactions occurring within. Nano-encapsulation of bio-materials has attracted lately wide interest from the scientific community because of the great potential of its applications in biomedical areas and targeted therapies.

Nano-encapsulation as high pressure devices for folding-unfolding proteins.

This communication focuses on the capillary pressure effect in nano-objects. Indeed the change in pressure inside encapsulated biomaterials due to capillary effects can drastically alter the chemical equilibrium and the kinetics of biological reactions. This can potentially be exploited to design specific encapsulations in hollow solid nano-spheres or nano-tubes as carriers to optimise biochemical processes.

Emulsions stability, from dilute to dense emulsions -- role of drops deformation.

The present paper starts with a review of fundamental descriptions based on physico-chemical laws derived for emulsions with a special interest for eventual evidences of drops deformation. A critical analysis of theories and experiments is given that leads the authors to propose new static and dynamic models for the approach to flocculation and coalescence of two deformable drops in dense and dilute environments of other neighboring drops. The model developed is based on an old paper by Albers and Overbeek for W/O dense emulsions with non-deformable particles, that has been improved recently first by Sengupta and Papadopoulos and then by Mishchuk et al.

Interparticle interactions in concentrate water-oil emulsions.

The present investigation is based on the description of electrostatic interaction in concentrated disperse systems proposed 45 years ago by Albers and Overbeek. Starting from their model, we developed a stability theory of concentrated Brownian W/O emulsions in which nondeformed droplets undergo electrostatic and Van der Waals interactions. While the droplets in dilute emulsion may be described by pair interaction, in dense emulsions, every droplet is closely surrounded by other droplets, and when two of them come together, not only the energy of their pair interaction, but also their interaction with surrounding droplets change.