Experimental evaluation of electrical conductivity of microtubules

M. Umnov, O. A. Palusinski, P. A. Deymier, R. Guzman, J. Hoying, H. Barnaby, Y. Yang, S. Raghavan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microtubules (MTs) are self-assembled proteinaceous filaments with nanometer scale diameters and micrometer scale lengths. Through conductivity measurements in microchannels we shed some light on electrical properties of microtubules. Measuring electrical resistance we were able to detect the dynamic disassembly of MTs and determine an upper limit for the electrical conductivity of MT. The measurements yielded the value of 90 Ω-1 m -1 as the upper limit for the conductivity of MTs, which is in the order of conductivity observed in inorganic intrinsic semiconductors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)373-378
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Materials Science
Volume42
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2007
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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