Probing the “interfacial” and “bulk” characteristics of solid-supported thin liquid films

The conversion of relatively “thick” (on the order of 100 Å) solid-supported liquid films of lipids to mono- or bilayer molecular structures by the aid of electrostriction is considered in the present work. Technique based on the concept of impedance is used for the investigation of the parameters of these different types of films. It is shown that the “thick” films could structurally be regarded as composed of “bulk” and “interfacial” parts with readily distinguished characteristics. Some possibilities of using this information for the realization of sensor devices based on solid-supported thin liquid films of lipids are discussed.