University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Study of Phospholipid/Graphene interfaces and the effect of substrate curvature on lipid morphology and dynamics.

Dronadula, Mohan Teja

Content Files
DRONADULA-THESIS-2021.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113347

Description

Title
Study of Phospholipid/Graphene interfaces and the effect of substrate curvature on lipid morphology and dynamics.
Author(s)
Dronadula, Mohan Teja
Issue Date
2021-07-22
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Aluru, Narayana Rao
Department of Study
Mechanical Sci & Engineering
Discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Date of Ingest
2022-01-12T22:56:15Z
Keyword(s)
  • molecular dynamics
  • phospholipids
  • graphene
  • supported lipid monolayers
  • biosensors
  • soft matter.
Abstract
Phospholipids are an important class of lipids which are widely used as model platforms to study biological processes and interactions. They have been known to form stable interfaces with solid substrates like graphene, and these interfaces have potential applications in bio-sensing and targeted drug-delivery. In this paper, we perform molecular dynamics simulations of graphene supported lipid monolayers to characterize lipid properties in such interfaces. We observed substantial differences in lipid properties like tail order-parameter, density profile, diffusion rate, etc., between lipids in a supported monolayer and free-standing bilayer. Further, we studied these interfaces on sinusoidally deformed graphene substrates to understand the effect of curvature on the supported lipids. Here, we observed that the nature of substrate curvature—concave, convex or flat—can affect the lipid/substrate adhesion strength as well as induce structural and dynamical changes in the adsorbed lipid monolayer. Together, these results help characterize the properties of lipid/graphene interfaces, as well as understand the effect of substrate curvature on these interfaces, which can enable tuning of lipid properties for various sensor device and drug delivery applications.
Graduation Semester
2021-08
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113347
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 Mohan Teja Dronadula

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