title: Cationic lipid absorption on titanium: a counterion-mediated bilayer-to-lipid-tubule-network transition.
abstract: By carefully tuning the screening effects of monovalent salt in solution, it is possible to control the formation of different lipid morphologies on a titanium dioxide substrate. A transition from an absorbed vesicle layer to fluid lipid bilayers is observed as a function of monovalent salt concentration in solution, and, above a threshold salt concentration, a network of lipid tubules with a fascinating distorted-hexagonal structure is formed in two dimensions on the substrate. We present fluorescence microscopy data for these different morphologies, confirming the connectivity and fluidity of the bilayers and tubules.
authors.affiliation: MARTECH, Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Emily R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hirst