CRYO-TEM EVIDENCE - SONICATION OF DIHEXADECYL PHOSPHATE DOES NOT PRODUCE CLOSED BILAYERS WITH SMOOTH CURVATURE

Dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) is commonly used for formation of model membranes. In this report cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) pictures are presented. They clearly show that after cooling to room temperature, dispersions of DHP sonicated at 80 degrees C are dominated by open and folded bilayer fragments, rather than by vesicles with smooth curvature. Quantitative results of an earlier kinetic investigation of viologen reduction in DHP were reproduced using these dispersions.