This talk focuses initially on the development of the metal supported membrane field from the classical ideas and experiments of interfacial electrochemistry in particular the adsorption of organic compounds on mercury. This development includes the structure and properties of water soluble synthetic and biological polymers at
mercury/electrolyte interfaces and investigations of the adsorption of insoluble compounds, specifically lipids, at the mercury/electrolyte interface. The talk then discusses the applications of the lipid on metal membrane model to understand better biological membrane structure and function including the following areas: phospholipid behaviour in electric field, monolayer permeability to ions, gramicidin ion channel properties, electron and proton transfer to ubiquinone-10 and, biosensor applications. Finally the most recent developments of the model are detailed including advances in the impedance analysis of ultra-thin films, the transformation of the monolayer to a more relevant bilayer model and the ruggedisation of the model for online toxicity testing.
Andrew Nelson is Professor at the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds. His main fields of research focus on aspects of biological membranes, like organised phospholipid layers, surface induced phase transitions or toxicity sensing. In the Leeds Center of Self Organising Molecular Systems (SOMS), Professor Nelson and his team developed novel hybrid devices which combine biological-like membranes with inorganic substrates to act either as biosensors or as miniature “laboratories” for analysing biological molecules.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Fritz Scholz