Equivalent electrical circuit for surface supported bilayer

In collaboration with Professor Peter Searson, we are working to assemble robust, surface-supported membrane mimetics with active ion-conducting channels that are electrically addressable. The long-term goal is to use these membrane platforms for basic ion channel research as well as for ion species detection and analyte sensing.

For this project, we are using a novel directed assembly approach that overcomes current limitations associated with traditional black lipid membranes and self-assembled membrane mimetics. We characterize the electrical and structural properties of these platforms using a range of electrochemical, optical, and fluorescence-based techniques.