On the limited recognition of inorganic surfaces by short peptides compared with antibodies.

The vast potential applications of biomolecules that bind inorganic surfaces led mostly to the isolation of short peptides that target selectively specific materials. The demonstrated differential affinity toward certain surfaces created the impression that the recognition capacity of short peptides may match that of rigid biomolecules. In the following, we challenge this view by comparing the capacity of antibody molecules to discriminate between the (100) and (111A) facets of a gallium arsenide semiconductor crystal with the capacity of short peptides to do the same.

The governing role of surface hydration in ion specific adsorption to silica: an AFM-based account of the Hofmeister universality and its reversal.

AFM measurements of the force acting between silica surfaces in the presence of varied alkali chloride salts and pH's elucidate the origin of the Hofmeister adsorption series and its reversal. At low pH, electrostatics is shown to be insignificant. The preferential adsorption of Cs(+) to the silica surface is traced to the weak hydration of neutral silanols and the resulting hydrophobic expulsion of weakly hydrated ions from bulk solution to the interface.

Effect of cation size and charge on the interaction between silica surfaces in 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 aqueous electrolytes.

Application of two complementary AFM measurements, force vs separation and adhesion force, reveals the combined effects of cation size and charge (valency) on the interaction between silica surfaces in three 1:1, three 2:1, and three 3:1 metal chloride aqueous solutions of different concentrations. The interaction between the silica surfaces in 1:1 and 2:1 salt solutions is fully accounted for by ion-independent van der Waals (vdW) attraction and electric double-layer repulsion modified by cation specific adsorption to the silica surfaces. The deduced ranking of mono- and divalent cation adsorption capacity (adsorbability) to silica, Mg(2+) < Ca(2+) < Na(+) < Sr(2+) < K(+) < Cs(+), follows cation bare size as well as cation solvation energy but does not correlate with hydrated ionic radius or with volume or surface ionic charge density.

From repulsion to attraction and back to repulsion: the effect of NaCl, KCl, and CsCl on the force between silica surfaces in aqueous solution.

The force between silica surfaces in NaCl, KCl and CsCl aqueous solutions is studied at pH 5.5 using an atomic force microscope (AFM). As ion concentration is increased, more cations adsorb to the negatively charged silica, gradually neutralizing the surface charge, hence, suppressing the electrostatic double layer repulsion and revealing van der Waals attraction.