Evaporation-induced buckling and fission of microscale droplet interface bilayers

Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) are a robust platform for studying synthetic cellular membranes; however, to date no DIBs have been produced at cellular length scales. Here, we create microscale droplet interface bilayers (μDIBs) at the interface between aqueous femtoliter-volume droplets within an oil-filled microfluidic channel. The uniquely large area-to-volume ratio of the droplets results in strong evaporation effects, causing the system to transition through three distinct regimes. First, the two adjacent droplets shrink into the shape of a single spherical droplet, where an augmented lipid bilayer partitions two hemispherical volumes. In the second regime, the combined effects of the shrinking monolayers and growing bilayer force the confined bilayer to buckle to conserve its mass. Finally, at a critical bending moment, the buckling bilayer fissions a vesicle to regulate its shape and mass. The μDIBs produced here enable evaporation-induced bilayer dynamics reminiscent of endo- and exocytosis in cells.