Minimal Peptide Surfactants for Long-Lasting Nanoemulsions via Noncovalent Interfacial Interactions
positions, the designed peptides exhibit efficient adsorption at the oil-water interface. The representative peptide, 5F7H, stabilizes nanoemulsions with a monodispersed droplet size of ∼170 nm for more than 15 months, achieving approximately 79% interfacial adsorption. Molecular simulations suggest partial helical organization, supporting the formation of a densely packed yet dynamic interfacial layer. The system demonstrates enhanced surface activity at a basic pH and strong resistance to dilution, indicating robust interfacial cohesion. These findings establish a minimalistic peptide design principle for constructing durable nanoemulsion systems and provide a foundation for scalable, bioderived emulsifiers in advanced formulation technologies.
Authors
- Shankar Devkota
- Guangze Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6194-1918)
- Yang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8932-6135)
- Zichao Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8150-2461)
- Zilin Ye
- Zhenwei Lan
- Yue Hui
- Matthias Orchard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1077-8599)
- Chun-Xia Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3365-3759)
Institutions
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (AU)
- Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (SG)
- Department of Physics, Mathematics and Informatics (BY)
- State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (CN)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2026-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6c04370
- Primary Topic
- Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Australian Research Council