Inducing mixing of water-in water BSA/dextran emulsion by a strong polyelectrolyte

Abstract We examine whether a small amount of strong polyelectrolyte (dextran sulfate sodium salt/DSS/) can induce mixing in water-in-water bovine serum albumin/dextran (BSA/DEX) emulsion and how intermacromolecular interactions affect its the rheological properties. Addition of DSS to water-in-water emulsion at pH 5.4 leads to its mixing at the DSS/BSA weight ratio, ( q ( DSS / BSA ) ) ≥ 0.07 , a noticeable increase in viscosity and storage modulus (G′). Mixing is reversible: increasing the ionic strength leads to phase separation in the water/BSA/DEX/DSS system. The increase in viscoelasticity results from the interaction of DSS with both macromolecular compounds of the emulsion. We assum…