Advanced Materials, Vol.9, No.11, 913-917, 1997
Fullerenes in membranes: Structural and dynamic effects of lipophilic C-60 derivatives in phospholipid bilayers
Intercalation of lipo-fullerenes between two monolayers of a lipid bilayer can result in the formation of rod-like structures that exhibit reversible long-range ordering (see Figure). This and other interesting properties of fullerene/membrane composite systems are reported. An arrangement of C-60 in the bilayer capable of explaining the experimental observations is also suggested.