Rheology and structural properties of protein and particle-stabilized foams - a multi-scale approach

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Regine von Klitzing; Professor Dr. Peter Müller-Buschbaum; Professor Dr. Norbert Willenbacher
• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers ; Mechanical Process Engineering
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395854042

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The aim of the project was to gain a deeper understanding and better control of the rheological and structural properties of protein- and particle-stabilized foams. To this end, the relationships between structure and dynamics were investigated at different length scales. For this purpose, a multi-scale approach was used, which included investigations at the macroscopic foam, the foam lamella and at the air/liquid interface. This required different scientific / methodological approaches, which was covered by the collaboration of the von Klitzing, Müller-Buschbaum and Willenbacher working groups. The Müller-Buschbaum group (physics) investigated the interfacial structure by X-ray and neutron scattering, both specularly and under grazing incidence, so that the lateral and vertical structure of the foam films could be determined. Complementary imaging methods such as scanning electron microscopy were used. Imaging optical methods were also used to cover larger length scales. The work focused on the major bovine whey protein ß-lactoglobulin, with which central studies were also made in the von Klitzing and Willenbacher working groups. The studies were very successfully extended to bio-hybrid films by introducing titanium dioxide nanostructures into the β-lactoglobulin foam films, which allowed bio-templation of nanostructured foam-like titanium dioxide films at low temperature and on a water basis. For this purpose, different precursors were considered and the obtained foam-like titanium dioxide films were studied in terms of their morphology and crystallinity. Therefore, in addition to the fundamental knowledge gained on foam films, this work also presents an interesting approach for a low-temperature water-based route for nanostructured foam-like titania films. It promotes an environmentally friendly and more sustainable fabrication of titania-based functional films with the possibility of large-scale upscaling, which is of interest for numerous applications in the fields of sensing, energy conversion, and energy storage.

Publications

• GISANS study on whey protein and titania interfaces: Influence of pH on spray deposited biohybrid film morphology, MLZ User Meeting, 07 – 08 December 2021
  J. E. Heger, C. Geiger, T. Widmann, L. P. Kreuzer, S. Yin, A. Koutsioumpas & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• In situ GISAXS/GIWAXS investigation of ß-sheet mediated biotemplating in TiO2:ß-lactoglobulin films during spray deposition, DESY Photon Science Users’ Meeting 2021, 27 – 28 January
  J. E. Heger, W. Chen, C. Brett,W. Ohm, S. V. Roth & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• In situ GIXS investigation of ß-lactoglobulin templated TiO2 hybrid film formation during spray deposition: An approach to green synthesis of functional materials, ACS Virtual Spring Meeting 2021, 05 – 16 April 2021
  J. E. Heger, W. Chen, S. Yin, C. Geiger, C. J. Brett, W. Ohm, S. V. Roth & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Inorganic-organic hybrid nanostructures based on biopolymer templating, 11th Energy Colloquium of the Munich School of Engineering, 28 – 29 July 2021
  L. F. Huber & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Observing the role of ß-lactoglobulin in biotemplating TiOx during spray deposition with in situ GIXS techniques: A route to green sol-gel chemistry, DPG Virtual Spring Meeting 2021, 22 – 24 March 2021
  J. E. Heger, W. Chen, S. Yin, C. L. Weindl, C. Geiger, C. J. Brett, W. Ohm, S. V. Roth & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Inorganic-organic hybrid nanostructures based on biopolymer templating 12th Energy Colloquium of the Munich Institute of Integrated Materials, Energy and Process Engineering (MEP), 28 July 2022
  L. F. Huber & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Inorganic-organic hybrid nanostructures based on biopolymer templating, BioINSP, Konstanz (hybrid), 21 – 24 April 2022
  L. F. Huber & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Low-temperature and water-based biotemplating of nanostructured foam-like titania films using ß-Lactoglobulin, 12th Energy Colloquium of the Munich Institute of Integrated Materials, Energy and Process Engineering (MEP), 28 July 2022
  J. E. Heger, W. Chen, S. Yin, N. Li, C. J. Brett, W.Ohm, S. V. Roth & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• Low‐Temperature and Water‐Based Biotemplating of Nanostructured Foam‐Like Titania Films Using ß‐Lactoglobulin. Advanced Functional Materials, 32(20).
  Heger, Julian E.; Chen, Wei; Yin, Shanshan; Li, Nian; Körstgens, Volker; Brett, Calvin J.; Ohm, Wiebke; Roth, Stephan V. & Müller‐Buschbaum, Peter
  
• Sustainable biohybrid interfaces: GISANS study on spray deposited whey protein and titania composite films at varying pH MLZ User Meeting 2022, Munich, 08 – 09 December 2022
  J. E. Heger, C. Geiger, T. Widmann, L. P. Kreuzer, J. Reitenbach, S. Yin, A. Koutsioumpas & P. Müller-Buschbaum
  
• ß-lactoglobulin-biotemplating of crystalline TiO2 films at low temperature, 6th Bioinspired Materials 2022, 21 – 24 March 2022
  J. E. Heger, W. Chen, S. Yin, N. Li, V. Körstgens, C. J. Brett, W. Ohm, S. V. Roth, P. Müller-Buschbaum, J. E. Heger, W. Chen, S. Yin, N. Li, V. Körstgens, C. J. Brett, W. Ohm, S. V. Roth & P. Müller-Buschbaum