title: Structure of spin-coated lipid films and domain formation in supported membranes formed by hydration.
abstract: An atomic force and fluorescence microscopy investigation of the structure of spin-coated lipid films is presented. In the surface of the dry film, lipids are found to orient in a conformation where acyl chains are pointing outward while laterally the individual layers of the multilamellar film exhibit a dewetting pattern similar to what is found in polymer thin films. Hydration of the film in liquid water promotes detachment of bilayers from the surface while a single membrane remains on the mica substrate. This supported membrane is highly uniform and defect-free as compared to supported membranes prepared by conventional methods. It is further demonstrated that supported membranes of binary lipid mixtures prepared by this method exhibit gel-fluid domain coexistence in accordance with expectations from the phase diagrams.
authors.affiliation: MEMPHYS Center for Biomembrane Physics, Physics Department, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.
authors.forename: Adam Cohen
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Simonsen
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Bagatolli
mesh_terms: D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D014867:Water