Abstract

Here, we used electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to demonstrate that the polar lipid fraction E (PLFE), a major bipolar tetraether lipid component isolated from thermoacidophilic archaea, can form free-standing planar membranes with remarkable membrane stability in comparison to planar membranes made of diester lipids or triblock copolymers. Stable PLFE planar membranes were generated on micro-pores ranging from 20 to 200 µm in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin films embedded in a specially made glass/silicon two-chamber microchip. The micro-pore-containing PDMS thin film was fabricated by using a double-side molding approach, which created surface flatness on both sides of the film, removing pore cliffs and thus reducing the variations in the fabrication of free-standing planar membranes. We found that, at 11–39 °C, PLFE free standing planar membranes embedded in the microchips not …

Date

2017

Authors

Xiang Ren, E Caglan Kumbur, Jack G Zhou, Moses Noh, Parkson Lee-Gau Chong

Journal

Journal of membrane science

Volume

540

Pages

27-34

Publisher

Elsevier