title: Asymmetric black membranes formed by one monolayer of bipolar lipids at the air/water interface.
abstract: In this work a new technique is presented for the formation of black lipid membranes from a single monolayer of bipolar lipids at the air/water interface. The lipid, extracted from the thermophilic archaeobacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus, is characterized by two different polar heads. The membrane is formed with a technique similar to that introduced by Montal and Mueller; however, the lipid is spread only on one side of the teflon partition. Conductance in the presence of valinomycin, voltage-dependent capacitance, current-voltage measurements and electroporation indicate that, as expected, the membrane is asymmetric.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gliozzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Relini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Accardo
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D004075:Diglycerides; D004563:Electrochemistry; D008055:Lipids; D008566:Membranes; D016944:Sulfolobus / Q000737:chemistry; D014634:Valinomycin / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D004075:Diglycerides; D008055:Lipids; C085775:glycerol dialkyl nonitol tetraethyl ether; D014867:Water; D014634:Valinomycin