Cooperative tuneable interactions between a designed peptide biosurfactant and positional isomers of SDOBS at the air-water interface.

Rationally designed peptide biosurfactant AM1 was mixed with sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDOBS) to self-assemble a mixed surfactant-biosurfactant layer at the air-water interface. Under optimal conditions in the presence of Zn2+, the interfacial elasticity of the mixed layer was approximately 5-fold higher than for biosurfactant alone. Two head positional isomers, SDOBS-2 and SDOBS-6, were compared for their ability to enhance interfacial film strength.