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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Environ Sci Technol. 2013 Sep 18;47(19):11232–11240. doi: 10.1021/es403377p

Figure 4.

Figure 4

A schematic illustration of a model of DPPC bilayer structure coated outside citrate stabilized AgNPs. The DPPC surfactant molecule consists of a trimethyl ammonium bounded to an acidic phosphate, providing a hydrophilic zwitterionic head group and two hydrophobic fatty acid tails comprised by 16 hydrocarbons. There is likely formation of a lipid bilayer structure on the surface of citrate coated AgNPs, with hydrophobic tails associating with each other, whereas hydrophilic groups of two layers oriented toward to aqueous environment and citrate layer respectively. The hydrocarbon bilayer thickness was determined by TEM analysis through negative staining.