Aqueous Ionic Liquid Mixtures as Minimal Models of Lipid Bilayer Membranes.

ABSTRACT: We introduce aqueous ionic liquid (IL) mixtures, specifically mixtures of 1-butyl-3-imidazoliumtetrafluoroborate (BMImBF₄), with water as a minimal model of lipid bilayer membranes. Imidazolium-based ILs are known to form clustered nanoscale structures in which local inhomogeneities, micellar or lamellar structures, are formed to shield hydrophobic parts of the cation from the polar cosolvent (water). To investigate these nanostructures, dynamic light scattering (DLS) on samples with different mixing ratios of water and BMImBF₄ was performed. At mixing ratios of 50% and 45% (v/v), small and homogeneous nanostructures can indeed be detected. To test whether, in particular, these stable nanostructures in aqueous mixtures may mimic the effects of phospholipid bilayer mem

SUBMITTER: Volmer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11322907 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature