Kinetics of protein adsorption and immunological reactions at a liquid/solid interface by ellipsometry.

The adsorption of bovine serum albumin and the subsequent reaction with it of rabbit anti-bovine serum albumin at a saline solution/gold interface are observed in vitro by ellipsometry. By suitable choice of protein concentrations, the processes of adsorption and immunological reaction can be followed in detail by an ordinary null ellipsometer. A simple kinetic model for the formation of a monolayer of protein at the saline solution/gold interface provides adequate explanation for the experimental results. It is shown that ellipsometry is capable of providing information on molecular dimensions, molecular diffusion velocities and adsorption rates.