| Summary: | The purpose of this dissertation was two-fold: 1) explore the micelle structure and microenvironment of monorhamnolipids (mRL), produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, and their mixtures with synthetic surfactants in order to postulate possible applications of these materials in industrial products and 2) examine the effects of mRL on commercial metal oxide nanoparticle (NP) aqueous dispersion behavior to reveal the potential impact of microbial secondary metabolites on NP fate and transport in the environment. The mixing behavior of mRL with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) was measured using surface tensiometry. Electrostatics resulted in cooperative enhancement in mixture properties, but were not significant until α(CPC) ≥ 0.25. Steady-state and time resolved fluorescence quenching measurements in mRL micelles revealed that quenching proceeded via a combined static and dynamic mechanism. Static quenching was preferred in mRL illustrating the reactants form a globular micelle. Changing the structure of the reactants displayed changes in the degree and mechanism of quenching further supporting this aggregate model. Fluorescence measurements on mRL-Tween 20 micelles supported that a geometrically-driven shape transition occurs as mRL decreases. The corresponding decrease in probe lifetime indicated the polarity of the micelle was decreasing. Tween "sealed" the mRL micelles making them less susceptible to water penetration. The effect of mRL on metal oxide NP dispersions was evaluated on adsorption strength, NP aggregate size and stability, and zeta potential under different conditions. Silica NPs showed little adsorption of mRL and was impervious to all variables in altering the solution stable aggregate size. NP aggregate size decreased at very high mRL concentrations due to osmotic and electrosteric repulsions of mRL micelles in solution. Titania, despite expectations, indicated fairly low adsorption of mRL and displayed similar aggregate dispersion stability as that of silica. Spectroscopic investigations exposed that the commercial titania NPs were contaminated with silica altering NP surface properties. Zinc oxide (ZnO) dispersions were substantially affected by the adsorption of mRL. Without mRL, ZnO NPs were unstable independent of pH. The addition of mRL stabilized the ZnO dispersions and lowered the zeta potentials. Furthermore, mRL coating prevented the dissolution of ZnO, the major factor implicated in ZnO toxicity.
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