EC-STM observation on electrochemical response of fluidic phospholipid monolayer on Au(1 1 1) modified with 1-octanethiol

Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) was applied to observe phospholipid layers over thiol-modified gold substrates as a model biological cell membrane. On a monolayer of 1-octanethiol on Au (1 1 1), a synthetic lipid, 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, was introduced in a neutral 0.05 M NH4ClO4 buffer solution. The lipid molecules formed a fluidic layer at 0.0 V vs. RHE of the substrate electrode potential. By cycling the electrode potential between +0.2 V and −0.2 V, the lipid layer reversibly changed over between the fluidic phase and a striped/grainy structure. This structural change might involve partial decomposition and oligomerization of phospholipids. This method will contribute for molecular biology by revealing the nanometer-scale structure of cell membrane.