Effect of an electric field on a floating lipid bilayer: a neutron reflectivity study

Sigolène Lecuyer (1) , Giovanna Fragneto (2) , Thierry Charitat (1)

1 ICS - Institut Charles Sadron
2 ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin

We present here a neutron reflectivity study of the influence of an alternative electric field on a supported phospholipid double bilayer. We report for the first time a reproducible increase of the fluctuation amplitude leading to the complete unbinding of the floating bilayer. Results are in good agreement with a semi-quantitative interpretation in terms of negative electrostatic surface tension.

Mots clés: Membranes; Bilayers and Vesicles; Fluctuations; Neutron reflectometry

Domaines: Autre [cond-mat.other]

Sigolène Lecuyer, Giovanna Fragneto, Thierry Charitat. Effect of an electric field on a floating lipid bilayer: a neutron reflectivity study. 2006. ⟨hal-00112075⟩