Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
Ion channels reconstituted into lipid bilayer membranes can be used as a very sensitive and selective platform for high-throughput drug screening applications. In order to employ suspended lipid bilayer membranes for these experiments in form of a “lab-on-a-chip” configuration, a robust and affordable platform is required. In our study, we investigated the feasibility of hosting lipid bilayer membranes across micron-size apertures ranging from 5 μm – 50 μm in silicon. On these substrates, lipid bilayers were formed and characterized concerning their seal resistance, capacitance and breakdown voltage. Seal resistance values of up to 60 GΩ could be achieved repeatedly on these substrates.