Properties of galactocerebroside layers transferred to glassy carbon electrodes: effect of an applied electric field.

Galactocerebroside films deposited onto glassy carbon electrodes have been previously studied through the electrochemical response of a redox couple present in solution. Those experiments indicated that the film is inhomogeneous and that there are lipid-free places. In this work, we present experimental results indicating that those bare regions are formed when the electrode is introduced in an aqueous solution, and that the size and/or amount of uncovered domains increase when negative potentials are applied to the film. The experimental techniques employed for these findings are epifluorescence microscopy and ellipsometry.