Magnetoresponse in Electrical Properties of Black Lipid Membranes

The membrane potential and resistance of black lipid membranes (BLM), comprising didodecyl phosphite or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, markedly changed up to −50% and 4%, respectively, due to steady magnetic fields in the region of 0.2 T. The magnetic-field effects on the electrical properties seem to occur not via the Lorentz force on the ion flux but via the cooperative orientation of lipid molecules. Thus, the addition of molecules having different magnetic anisotropy to a BLM modified the magnetoresponses of the membrane. These examples demonstrate that relatively low magnetic fields may regulate the electrical properties of lipid membranes.