Electrochemical studies of blocking properties of solid supported tethered lipid membranes on gold.

The insulating properties of self-assembled thiolipid monolayers and tethered lipid bilayers on polycrystalline gold electrodes were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). These films were formed by two-step self-assembly processes. Electrochemical measurements of the heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of different redox couples such as potassium ferrocyanide (K(4)[Fe(CN)(6)]) and dopamine (DP) were used to examine the molecular integrity and structural defects and pinholes within the monolayers. We demonstrate by means of cyclic voltammetry that the bilayer lipid membranes tethered to the gold surface are blocking, stable, yet retaining their dynamic properties and can be used as a model of the cell membrane.