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.