Abstract
A JAPANESE STUDY reveals that bilayer membranes formed from a water-soluble fullerene derivative possess properties different from those of conventional lipid bilayer membranes such as cell membranes. The findings suggest that fullerene membranes could open new possibilities in separations and sensing technologies ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA , DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0705010104). In their study, chemists Hiroyuki Isobe of Tohoku University, in Sendai, and Tatsuya Homma and Eiichi Nakamura of the University of Tokyo, found that the fullerene membrane is several orders of magnitude less permeable to water than a lipid membrane and that the permeability decreases as the temperature is raised. The researchers believe that this unusual behavior is due to the fact that the water molecules interact with the fullerene molecules as they pass through clefts in the rigid fullerene bilayer and, as a result, have difficulty leaving the bilayer. The water-retarding effect, they believe, is similar to what happens when crysta...
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