Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Lipid-Protein Membrane Structure-Function Characterization using Droplet Interface Bilayers
Published on: June 12, 2026
The electrical properties of synthetic membranes
Abstract:
By the addition of n-butyl bromide to a 1:19 copolymer of 4-vinylpyridine and styrene, water-insoluble, strong polyelectrolytes can be prepared. The addition of a hydrocarbon plasticizer permits the casting of flexible films in which large polycations are immobilized but in which bromide ions (or other small anions) are free to move. Electrical measurements on these membranes showed that they could be represented by a complex admittance: an electrolytic conductance in parallel with a pure A. C. impedance. The latter gives a circular arc when real component is plotted against imaginary. These synthetic membranes thus resemble in their electrical behavior that found by Cole for a variety of biological membranes.
Related Concept Videos
Potentiometry: Membrane Electrodes
The Resting Membrane Potential
Resting Membrane Potential
The Inside of a Neuron is More Negative
The membrane potential of a cell can be measured by inserting a microelectrode into a cell and comparing the charge to a reference electrode in the extracellular fluid. The...
Resting Membrane Potential
The Inside of a Neuron is More Negative
The membrane potential of a cell can be measured by inserting a microelectrode into a cell and comparing the charge to a reference electrode in the extracellular fluid. The...
Electrical Synapses
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
Electrical Transport
