Regensburg 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 19: Posters - Membranes and Vesicles

BP 19.2: Poster

Montag, 7. März 2016, 17:30–19:30, Poster C

Neutron Reflectometry Yields Distance-Dependent Structures of Interacting Lipid Membrane Surfaces Decorated with Hydrophilic Polymers — •Ignacio Rodriguez Loureiro¹, Victoria Latza¹, Aurelio Barbetta^1,2, Luca Bertinetti¹, Giovanna Fragneto³, and Emanuel Schneck¹ — ¹Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany — ²Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule, France — ³Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France

Polymer brushes are found on the surfaces of important classes of biological membranes, such as lipopolysaccharides on bacterial outer membranes. The latter mediate the interaction with other bacteria and thus influence the physical properties of bacterial biofilms. But interacting polymer brushes are also of technological relevance, for instance in the field of surface lubrication. The interaction between polymer-decorated surfaces is coupled to the distance-dependent conformation of the polymer chains. This problem has been addressed by theory, but accurate experimental data on polymer conformations under confinement are rare. Here, we utilize neutron reflectometry to determine the distance-dependent structure of interacting lipid membrane surfaces decorated with hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brushes. We also have a look at two interacting lipopolysaccharide surfaces.