Study of interactions between hyaluronan and cationic surfactants by means of calorimetry, turbidimetry, potentiometry and conductometry

J Krouská; M Pekař; M Klučáková; B Šarac; M Bešter-Rogač

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.11.069

Study of interactions between hyaluronan and cationic surfactants by means of calorimetry, turbidimetry, potentiometry and conductometry

Carbohydr Polym. 2017 Feb 10:157:1837-1843. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.11.069. Epub 2016 Nov 24.

Authors

J Krouská¹, M Pekař², M Klučáková¹, B Šarac³, M Bešter-Rogač³

Affiliations

¹ Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Materials Research Centre, Purkyňova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czechia.
² Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Materials Research Centre, Purkyňova 118, 612 00 Brno, Czechia. Electronic address: pekar@fch.vut.cz.
³ University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

PMID: 27987902
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.11.069

Abstract

The thermodynamics of the micelle formation of the cationic surfactants tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with and without the addition of hyaluronan of two molecular weights was studied in aqueous solution by titration calorimetry. Macroscopic phase separation, which was detected by calorimetry and also by conductometry, occurs when charges on the surfactant and hyaluronan are balanced. In contrast, turbidimetry and potentiometry showed hyaluronan-surfactant interactions at very low surfactant concentrations. The observed differences between systems prepared with CTAB and TTAB indicate that besides the electrostatic interactions, which probably predominate, hydrophobic effects also play a significant role in hyaluronan interactions with cationic surfactants.

Keywords: CTAB; Hyaluronan; Polyelectrolyte-surfactant interactions; Surfactants; TTAB.