Neutron reflection from a dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine monolayer adsorbed on a hydrophobised silicon support

Neutron specular reflection has been used to study the structure of a monolayer of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) deposited using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique onto a silicon oxide substrate. A self-assembled monolayer of octadecyltrichlorosilane with a deuterated alkyl chain (d-OTS) had been previously bonded onto this silicon oxide substrate which rendered it hydrophobic. In the system under study, the alkyl chains of the phospholipid were found to penetrate extensively into the d-OTS layer with the mixed chain region (d-OTS and DMPC) having a total thickness of 30.5 A. This mixed region was divided into two halves for analysis; the 'lower half' (nearest to the substrate surface) was found to comprise anchored d-OTS chains mixed with the lipid chains in the volume ratio approx. 0.60:0.35. The corresponding volume ratio in the 'upper half' of this region was determined to be approx. 0.50:0.40. The thicknesses of these regions were found to be 17.9 A (incorporating approx. 6% solvent) and 12.6 A (incorporating approx. 9% solvent) for the lower and upper halves respectively. The DMPC head groups were found to be confined to the most external layer (furthest away from the silicon substrate). This layer was found to have a thickness of 9.4 A and included a small fraction of the lipid alkyl chains with approx. 47% solvent.