Gold-electrode-integrated Teflon sheets for applying horizontal voltage to artificial cell membranes

Abstract A “horizontal voltage” applied parallel to artificial lipid bilayers enables novel modulation of ion channel activity beyond conventional transmembrane voltage. A previously reported device for this purpose employed a Teflon sheet with titanium (Ti) electrodes and a silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) insulating layer. However, this configuration suffered from short lifetime due to oxidation of the Ti electrodes and poor insulation stemming from a stiffness mismatch between the SiO 2 insulating layer and the Teflon base material. Here, we present a new horizontal voltage platform using gold (Au) as an oxidation-resistant electrode material and CYTOP, a flexible fluoropolymer, as the insulating layer. The resulting Au–CYTOP–Teflon structure exhibited long-term durability in both the electrodes and insulation while preserving the ability to modulate ion channel activity. This advancement enhances the applicability of horizontal voltage and provides a stable platform for high-resistance lipid bilayer recordings and future ion channel-based drug screening.