Polysiloxane-based biomembranes

Natural phosphatidylcholine was attached to a polysiloxane backbone. The Langmuir film, Langmuir-Blodgett deposition and Montal-Mueller properties were studied. The material forms exceptionally stable Langmuir films. Montal-Mueller bilayers have a resistance of about 2 × 104 Ω cm−2 and a breakdown voltage of about 350 mV. Langmuir-Blodgett bilayer films have a low-voltage resistance of about 2 × 105 Ω cm−2, a transition to a square-law dependence at around 0.1 V, and a breakdown voltage greater than 1 V. There is evidence that bacteriorhodopsin in readily incorporated into such films.