Adsorption of cationic lipid bilayer onto flat silicon wafers: effect of ion nature and concentration.

The effect of monovalent salt nature and concentration over a range of low ionic strengths (0-10 mM LiCl, NaCl, KCl, or CsCl) and at two different pH values (6.3 and 10.0) on adsorption of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) bilayer fragments (BF) onto flat SiO(2) surfaces was systematically evaluated by means of in situ ellipsometry. High-affinity adsorption isotherms fitted by the Langmuir model indicated that adsorption maxima were consistent with bilayer deposition only around 10 mM monovalent salt at both pH values. In pure water, the mean thickness of the DODAB adsorbed layer was close to zero with bilayer deposition taking place only around 10 mM ionic strength. In the presence of 10 mM CsCl or LiCl, the highest and the lowest affinity constants for DODAB adsorption onto SiO(2) were, respectively, obtained consistently with the expected facility of cation exchange at the surface required for DODAB adsorption. The cation more tightly bound to the solid surface should be Li(+), which would present the largest resistance to displacement by the DODAB cation, whereas the less tightly bound cation should be Cs(+) due to its largest ionic radius and lowest charge density. In other words, DODAB adsorption proceeds in accordance with charge density on the solid surface, which depends on the nature and concentration of bound counterions as well as DODAB cation ability to displace them. AFM images show a very smooth DODAB film adsorbed onto the surface in situ with a large frequency of BF auto-association from their edges. The present results for flat surfaces entirely agree with previous data from our group for DODAB adsorption onto silica particles.