Eur. Phys. J. E (2006) 21: 153-159
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2006-10054-8

Regular Article

Effect of an electric field on a floating lipid bilayer: A neutron reflectivity study

¹ Institut Charles Sadron, UPR 22, CNRS-Université Louis Pasteur, 6 rue Boussingault, F-67083, Strasbourg Cedex, France
² Institut Laue-Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, B.P. 156, F-38042, Grenoble Cedex, France

^* e-mail: charitat@ics.u-strasbg.fr

Received: 6 September 2006
Accepted: 2 November 2006
Published online: 6 December 2006

Abstract

We present here a neutron reflectivity study of the influence of an alternative electric field on a supported phospholipid double bilayer. We report for the first time a reproducible increase of the fluctuation amplitude leading to the complete unbinding of the floating bilayer. Results are in good agreement with a semi-quantitative interpretation in terms of negative electrostatic surface tension.