The effect of sodium alginate on the nanomechanical properties and interaction between oil body droplets studied using atomic force microscopy

Abstract

This study investigates the nanomechanical properties of different oil bodies (OBs), including soybean, peanut, sesame, and rapeseed, coated with sodium alginate (ALG), and the interaction between ALG-coated OBs using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Hooke's law, Reissner theory, and the Membrane model were respectively applied to analyze the nanomechanical properties of the linear and non-linear mechanics of the ALG-coated OBs. It was found that stiffness Kb and modulus ER from the linear deformation of ALG-coated OBs increased with the increase of the ALG layer thickness, while modulus Em from the non-linear deformation was larger than ER and correlated with the compression degree of the ALG layer. The interaction between pure OBs depended on the OB type. Electrostatic interaction which is related to the surface ζ-potential of the OBs occurs at a relatively long interaction distance, while at a relatively short distance, interfacial deformation of OBs occurs and the interaction force is affected by the structure and mechanics of OB interfacial membrane. After coating by ALGs, the electrostatic repulsion occurred from a longer distance than that between pure OBs, and both electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance exist for a long interaction distance as the ALG-coated OBs continued to approach each other. ALG coating can also weaken the electrostatic screening effect of salt ions, avoiding aggregation of OBs and thus improving their stability. The present work demonstrates the feasibility of using AFM to study the mechanical properties and interaction of OB droplets at the molecular level, and reveals the mechanism of the influence of polysaccharide macromolecules on the stability of OB emulsions from the microscopic scale.