Phospholipid bilayers supported on thiolate-covered nanostructured gold: in situ Raman spectroscopy and electrochemistry of redox species.

Thiol-covered nanostructured gold has been tested as a platform for the preparation of high-area phospholipid bilayer systems suitable for optical and electrochemical sensing. In situ and ex situ Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements are made to study methylene blue (MB) and flavin-adenine dinucleotide (FAD) incorporation into dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayers prepared by vesicle fusion on dithiothreitol (DTT)-covered nanostructured gold. Results show that lipophilic positively charged MB molecules are incorporated in the bilayer reaching the DTT-gold interface. On the other hand, the negatively charged FAD molecules are immobilized at the outer part of the phospholipid bilayer and cannot be electrochemically detected. Our results demonstrate that DTT-covered nanostructured gold provides a suitable high-area platform for phospholipid membranes that are able to separate and sense different kinds of molecules and biomolecules.