2-(p-toluidino)-6-naphthalene sulfonate as a fluorescent probe for flocculation studies of cationic potato amylopectin and nanosized silica particles.: 2.: Flocculation by binding of nanosized silica particles

2-(p-toluidino)-6-naphthalene sulfonate (TNS) is a probe that fluoresces strongly when bound to certain proteins and polymers, but weakly in aqueous solutions. The reversible association of TNS is used to monitor the binding of anionic nanosized silica particles (NSP) to cationic potato amylopectin starch (CApS) through the decreasing fluorescence emission as TNS is competitively released by the particle binding. Steady-state fluorescence measurements at different mixing ratios of CApS and NSP provide data on the equilibrium binding. The isotherm derived is used to establish the fact that the most efficient flocculation between CApS and NSP occurs when the polymer coils are nearly saturated by NSP, but still have positively charged parts left. This supports a patch-flocculation mechanism. Stopped-flow experiments show that NSP binding to CApS occurs within a few milli seconds. This observation allows turbidity changes which occur on longer timescales to be ascribed to particle-decorated polymers undergoing changes in the conformation or aggregation.