We introduce the use of silicon (Si) as a substrate for the electroformation of giant phospholipid vesicles. By taking advantage of the tunability of silicon surface properties, we varied the organization of the phospholipid film on the electrode and studied the consequences on vesicle formation. In particular, we investigated the effects of Si surface chemistry and microtopology on the organization of the phospholipid film and the properties of the final vesicles. We established correlations between chemical homogeneity, film defects, and resulting vesicle size distribution. By considering phospholipid films that are artificially fragmented by electrode microstructures, we showed that the characteristic size of vesicles decreases with a decrease in microstructure dimensions. We finally proposed a way to control the vesicle size distribution by using a micropatterned silicon dioxide layer on a Si substrate.

surface on a sub-monolayer scale giving rise to a 2D supramolecular structure that is comparable to the packing arrangements of the capsules in the crystal structures.The synthesis and characterisation of metallo-supramolecular cages and molecular capsules have received significant scientific attention. 1,2In the last few decades preparative efforts were directed towards the synthesis of new cage topologies or homologous species with controllable inner cavities whose chemical, geometrical and electronic attributes may give rise to unique properties that can be exploited in homogeneous catalytic processes, size-and shape-restrictive chemical transformations, separations, drug delivery and sensing devices. 2,3Importantly, for the majority of these and other advanced applications, the stability of the assembled molecular species in solution is a key requirement. (Fig. 1). We highlight the solution stability of this class of compounds and demonstrate that individual cluster entities can be deposited on the Au(111) surface and imaged using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM).Polyoxometalates constitute an interesting class of compounds for the preparation of cages. 6 The chemistry of polyoxovanadates in aqueous reaction systems as developed by Müller, Zubieta and others is characterised by condensation reactions whereby V IV and to a certain extent V V species in predominantly square pyramidal coordination environments aggregate to form oligonuclear and polynuclear clusters. The geometrical restraints associated with the square pyramidal {OQVO 4 } building unit often lead to convex oligonuclear species

The crystal structure of the title compound, {[AsCl3(C5H5N)]·H2O}n, is characterized by polymeric chains consisting of alternating arsenic and chlorine atoms running parallel to the a axis. O—H⋯Cl and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds mediated by non-coordinating water mol­ecules assemble these chains into a three-dimensional framework. The AsIII atom, the atoms of the pyridinium ring and the water O atom have m site symmetry and the bridging Cl atom has site symmetry 2. This is the first reported organotrichloro­arsenate(III) in which arsenic adopts a ψ-octa­hedral fivefold coordination.