| Summary: | The deposition of bicelles, which are two-dimensional lipid nanostructures composed of long- and short-chain phospholipids, onto hydrophilic surfaces is an emerging technique to fabricate supported lipid bilayers (SLBs). While successful SLB fabrication has been demonstrated and some mechanistic understanding of bicelle-mediated SLB formation gained, numerous other aspects remain to be understood. This thesis seeks to address the fundamental needs for better understanding the role of important experimental parameters – lipid charge, substrate type, salt concentration and cholesterol fraction – in SLB formation, alongside the practical needs for improving the fabrication prospects and scope by further engineering bicelles. Surface-sensitive techniques including quartz crystal microbalance-dissipation, localized surface plasmon resonance, time-lapse fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching are employed to characterize the bicelle adsorption and subsequent SLB formation on solid surfaces. The results of studying the effects of experimental parameters on SLB formation not only reveal new physicochemical insights into the interplay between bicelle compositions, substrate properties and environmental conditions but also establish guidelines on the optimal SLB conditions as identified in each investigation. The results of bicelle engineering demonstrate the feasibility of replacing the synthetic short-chain phospholipids with the naturally abundant and industrially relevant lipid sources, particularly fatty acids and monoglycerides, for alternative bicelle-based SLB fabrication options, which improves the fabrication prospects and scope. Taken together, the findings in this thesis contribute to broadening the fundamental knowledge about the interfacial phenomena of bicelles in terms of how experimental factors affect the adsorption and SLB formation on solid supports, as well as to expanding the prospects and scope of bicelle-based SLB fabrication scope beyond small-scale laboratory research.
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