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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes to Monitor Heat Transfer between Gold Nanoparticles and Lipid Membranes
Published on: December 8, 2020
Nanoparticles at Biomimetic Interfaces: Combined Experimental and Simulation Study on Charged Gold
Tobias Pfeiffer1, Antonio De Nicola2, Costanza Montis3
1Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie , Technische Universität Darmstadt , Alarich-Weiss-Straße 10 , Darmstadt 64289 , Germany.
Abstract:
The poor understanding of the interaction of nanomaterials with biologically relevant interfaces is recognized as one of the major issues currently limiting the development of nanomedicine. The central purpose of this study is to compare experimental (confocal microscopy, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, X-ray reflectivity) and computational (molecular dynamics simulations) results to thoroughly describe the interaction of cationic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with mixed zwitterionic/anionic lipid membranes. The adhesion of AuNPs to the lipid membrane is investigated on different length scales from a structural and dynamical point of view; with this approach, a series of complex phenomena, spanning from lipid extraction, localized membrane disruption, lateral phase separation, and slaved diffusion, are characterized and interpreted from a molecular level to macroscopic observations.
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