A new approach to the rest potential of biological membranes.

In a series of recent papers, Bonciocat et al., have shown that the faradaic current density of an electrode redox reactions occurring with combined limitations, of charge transfer and nonstationary linear, semi-infinite diffusion, is the solution of an integral equation of Volterra type. This integral equation has been transformed to describe the transport of ions through the interface between two immiscible electrolytic solutions.

Potentiometric investigation of the effect of the pH on the ionic transfer of some amino acids at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions.

The effect of the pH on the ionic transfer of glycine and beta-alanine at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) was investigated by a simple potentiometric method. Upon addition of small amounts of solution containing the investigated amino acids, a variation of the potential drop across the interface was recorded, which was found to be pH-dependent. This behavior was explained in terms of a preferential orientation of the amino acid molecules at the ITIES, induced by the different lipoficility of the functional groups.