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Published August 16, 1996 | public
Journal Article

Biomembrane Templates for Nanoscale Conduits and Networks

Abstract

Long nanotubes of fluid-lipid bilayers can be used to create templates for photochemical polymerization into solid-phase conduits and networks. Each nanotube is pulled from a micropipette-held feeder vesicle by mechanical retraction of the vesicle after molecular bonding to a rigid substrate. The caliber of the tube is controlled precisely in a range from 20 to 200 nanometers merely by setting the suction pressure in the micropipette. Branched conduits can be formed by coalescing separate nanotubes drawn serially from the feeder vesicle surface. Single nanotubes and nanotube junctions can be linked together between bonding sites on a surface to create a functionalized network. After assembly, the templates can be stabilized by photoinitiated radical cross-linking of macromonomers contained in the aqueous solution confined by the lipid bilayer boundary.

Additional Information

© 1996 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 4 March 1996; accepted 29 May 1996. This development was motivated by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program in Science of Soft Surfaces and Interfaces. Additional support came from Canadian Medical Research Council grant MT 7477 (E.E.), the University of Massachusetts Materials Science and Engineering Center (D.T.), and North Carolina Biotechnology Center grant 9413 ARG-0018 (D.N. and E.E.).

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023