Influence of pH on the triolein/aqueous interface and lipase activity

Lipases are responsible for the degradation of triglycerides to smaller components and attract interest in industrial applications in both the food and pharmaceutical industries due to the catalytic behavior. Understanding the oil-water interface that is controlling lipolytic activity is therefore, of significant importance. In a recent study we investigated the influence of pH on the interfacial lipolysis of thin triolein films using ellipsometry. While these measurements provided information about reaction kinetics and changes in overall film thickness, no internal structural information was revealed. Here, we intend to use neutron reflectometry to probe how solvent pH influences the changes to the internal structure as well as the oil/solvent interface of a thin triolein film after exposure to an aqueous buffer solution and subsequent addition on a lypolytic enzyme.脂肪酶（Lipases）负责将甘油三酯降解为更小组分，凭借其独特的催化特性，在食品与制药工业中均拥有重要的工业应用前景。因此，阐明调控脂解活性的油水界面机制具备显著研究价值。在近期的一项研究中，我们采用椭偏测量术（ellipsometry）探究了pH值对超薄三油酸甘油酯薄膜界面脂解过程的影响。尽管该测量方法可获取反应动力学与整体膜厚度变化的相关信息，但未能揭示薄膜的内部结构特征。本研究拟借助中子反射法（neutron reflectometry），探究经水溶液缓冲液处理并后续添加脂解酶后，溶剂pH值如何影响超薄三油酸甘油酯薄膜的内部结构以及油/溶剂界面的变化。