Bilayer formation

File:Lipid bilayer closeup.png

Lipid bilayers are commonly used to support biological nanopores. Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bilayer formation is part of the Nanopore Wiki learning path. Bilayer formation is a common preparation step for biological nanopore experiments that place pore proteins into lipid membranes for single-channel recording.

Core concepts

• A stable bilayer separates two electrolyte compartments and supports pore insertion.
• Membrane capacitance, baseline noise, and current jumps help diagnose bilayer quality.
• Protein addition side, concentration, and waiting time affect insertion behavior.
• A single-pore state should be confirmed before quantitative sensing.

Operational checklist

Step	Description
1	Clean the chamber, aperture, electrodes, and solutions.
2	Prepare lipid and buffer under documented conditions.
3	Form the bilayer and confirm low-noise stability.
4	Add pore protein and wait for a discrete insertion event.
5	Record open-pore current before adding analyte.

Typical applications

• Biological nanopore sensing.
• Single-channel electrophysiology teaching.
• Pore engineering validation.

Common pitfalls

• Mistaking membrane rupture or multiple insertions for a stable single pore.
• Skipping blank recordings after bilayer formation.
• Using unstable membranes for quantitative comparisons.

Related pages

• Biological nanopores
• Electrophysiology
• Experimental workflows
• Troubleshooting

References

• Lipid bilayer
• Planar lipid bilayer