Control of dynamics and molecular distribution in a self-spreading lipid bilayer using surface-modified metal nanoarchitectures

The molecular distribution and spreading dynamics of self-spreading lipid bilayers can be tuned by surface-modified metallic nanoarchitectures. Interactions between lipids and molecules in the surface modification alter the self-spreading behavior at the gate regions between adjacent nanoarchitectures, leading to molecular filtering/concentrating effects and modification of the dynamics. The hydrophilic surface can tune the spreading velocity without changing the molecular distribution in the spreading bilayer, whereas the hydrophobic surface provides a molecular concentrating function to the nanogates. This indicates that a combination of unmodified/hydrophobic/hydrophilic nanoarchitectures has a wide range of potential applications since it can be used to independently control the self-spreading dynamics and the molecular distribution.