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Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Automated Lipid Bilayer Membrane Formation Using a Polydimethylsiloxane Thin Film
Published on: July 10, 2016
Encapsulation of Graphene in the Hydrophobic Core of a Lipid Bilayer
Hadi Arjmandi-Tash1, Lia M C Lima1, Liubov A Belyaeva1
1Department of Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistry, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Theoretical simulations have predicted that a lipid bilayer forms a stable superstructure when a sheet of graphene is inserted in its hydrophobic core. We experimentally produced for the first time a lipid-graphene-lipid assembly by combining the Langmuir-Blodgett and the Langmuir-Schaefer methods. Graphene is sandwiched and remains flat within the hydrophobic core of the lipid bilayer. Using infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and neutron reflectometry, we characterized the superstructure at every fabrication step. The hybrid superstructure is mechanically stable and graphene does not disturb the natural lipid bilayer structure.
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