2009/10/07 by Malaquin, Linda, Thierry Charitat, Charitat, Thierry +2 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Material Dynamics and Properties #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0910.1275
A new method is proposed for the analysis of specular and off-specular reflectivity from supported lipid bilayers. Both thermal fluctuations and the "static" roughness induced by the substrate are carefully taken into account. Examples from supported bilayers and more complex systems comprising a bilayer adsorbed or grafted on the substrate and another "floating" bilayer are given. The combined analysis of specular and off-specular reflectivity allows the precise determination of the structure of adsorbed and floating bilayers, their tension, bending rigidity and interaction potentials. We show that this new method gives a unique opportunity to investigate phenomena like protusion modes of adsorbed bilayers and opens the way to the investigation of more complex systems including different kinds of lipids, cholesterol or peptides.