Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Characterization of a Droplet Interface Bilayer
Published on: April 19, 2021
Characterization of self-assembled hybrid siloxane-phosphocholine bilayers
Mark B Frampton1, Michael H L Nguyen2, Mitchell DiPasquale2
1Department of Chemistry and Centre for Biotechnology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada; Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
We have synthesized six new hybrid siloxane phosphocholines (SiPCs) and examined their self-assembly behaviour in aqueous dispersions. Employing small angle X-ray scattering we have characterized SiPC bilayers. SiPCs exhibit differential self-assembly behaviour that results from the interplay between the siloxane fatty acid in the sn-2 position and the differing chain length fatty acids in the sn-1 position. SiPCs that possess a fatty acid chain of a C8-C14 chain length in the sn-1 position form unilamellar vesicles. Extending the fatty acid chain length to C16 and C18 allows for the formation of both unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles. We propose that the preferential formation of unilamellar vesicles is the result of an enhanced hydrophobic effect imparted by siloxane chains at the termini of lipid tails.
Related Concept Videos
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
Hybrid Zones
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals I
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals II
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer
Protein Complex Assembly
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...

