Investigation of albumin denaturation when exposed to a nanosecond laser source

In this article, the processes of protein denaturation in an aqueous dispersion with the presence of single-walled carbon nanotubes under the influence of near-IR laser radiation are investigated. For irradiation, a pulsed solid-state Nd: YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used, the irradiation time was 10 minutes, the pulse repetition rate was 10 Hz, and the duration was 16 ns. The sample temperature during the experiment was measured using a pyrometer. It was found that in protein dispersions without carbon nanotubes at a power of incident radiation of ∼1 W, denaturation did not occur, while in dispersions with nanotubes at a temperature of 45-55 °C a decrease in sample transmission was observed, which indicates the occurrence of albumin protein denaturation. Denaturation of protein in dispersions with carbon nanotubes is explained by an increase in the absorption of laser radiation due to the appearance of nonlinear optical effects.