Kinetics and thermodynamics of human serum albumin adsorption on silicon doped diamond like carbon

To gain a better understanding of protein adsorption onto biomaterial surfaces is required for the control of biocompatibility and bioactivity. Various samples of diamond like carbon (DLC) and silicon-doped DLC were synthesised using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The effects of surface morphology on the interaction of human serum albumin (HSA) with doped and undoped DLC films was investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and other surface analysis techniques. The results highlighted an increase in both contact angle and hydrophobicity with increasing silicon dopant levels. A reduction on the contact angle values. After adsorption of HSA, the films showed a reduction in the contact angle with a significant change in the cosΔ and this gap increased with increasing surface coverage of HSA. The adsorption kinetics of HSA were also investigated and revealed that the maximum adsorption occurred at pH 5.0 and the process involved chemisorption. The experimental isotherm data were analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich‎ models. The amount of HSA adsorbed increased with contact time and reached saturation ‎after 30 min. The adsorption ‎process was found to be pseudo first order with respect to the bulk concentration and was dependent on both the concentration of protein and surface characteristics of the samples. The amount of adsorbed HSA was higher with higher levels of silicon doping of the DLC. Therefore, doping DLC may provide an approach to controlling the protein adsorption. - Graphical abstract: The average thickness layer of HSA measurement onto surfaces of DLC and Si-DLC. - Highlights: • Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) and Silicon doped DLC were synthesised and characterised. • Si-DLC increases the hydrophobicity and decreases the surface free energy. • Adsorption study using human serum albumin (HSA). • The adsorbed amount of HSA increases with increasing of Silicon content DLC. • Adsorption process follow pseudo first order and Freundlich adsorption isotherm