Design of Highly Stable Echogenic Microbubbles through Controlled Assembly of Their Hydrophobin Shell

Dispersing hydrophobin HFBII under air saturated with perfluorohexane gas limits HFBII aggregation to nanometer‐sizes. Critical basic findings include an unusual co‐adsorption effect caused by the fluorocarbon gas, a strong acceleration of HFBII adsorption at the air/water interface, the incorporation of perfluorohexane into the interfacial film, the suppression of the fluid‐to‐solid 2D phase transition exhibited by HFBII monolayers under air, and a drastic change in film elasticity of both Gibbs and Langmuir films. As a result, perfluorohexane allows the formation of homogenous populations of spherical, narrowly dispersed, exceptionally stable, and echogenic microbubbles. No‐trouble microbubbles: A fluorocarbon gas prevents the fluid‐to‐solid state transition in HFBII hydrophobin 2D films. This new phenomenon allows the preparation of size‐controlled, stable, and echogenic HFBII microbubbles with the potential for ultrasound imaging.