Investigating Interactions between Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNCs) and Proteins

• Author / Creator

  Cao, Cong

• Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are an emerging renewable and sustainable
  nanomaterial which has received increasing attention. They are abundant, nontoxic,
  biodegradable and chemically inert. CNCs have unique characteristics not
  met by traditional cellulose-derived materials, leading to
  investigations/applications of CNC's across all disciplines. The objective of this
  work is to investigate interactions of proteins with CNC's by atomic force
  microscopy (AFM) and spectroscopic techniques. Results indicated an
  electrostatic driven interaction that depends on incubation time, protein
  concentration and protein intrinsic properties such as molecular weight, charge
  distribution and iso-electric point. Understanding CNC-protein interactions aids in
  the development of new biosensing platforms that utilize green-material substrates.
  The usefulness of a CNC surface as a substrate for immunoassays was developed
  and evaluated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). CNC films were shown to
  provide a suitable platform for antibody immobilization and antigen binding, with
  LOD’s comparable to other SPR based biosensors.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Proteins
  • Interactions
  • IRRAS
  • SPR
  • Cellulose Nanocrystals
  • AFM

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CD6P

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.