A Langmuir monolayer of lipids is analogous to half a biomembrane. Such layers can be used as model membranes, and have been verified to be excellent models for biological systems in literature. It is also possible to create a supported bilayer with asymmetric lipid composition between the sides with a combination of LB and LS dipping.
In a freely floating monolayer the molecular diffusion and dynamics are close to that what they are in real systems. In nature most of biochemical reactions take place in interfaces, and freely floating model membrane allows the natural diffusion and migration of molecules. A Langmuir trough can be integrated with a variety of sensors and instruments in addition to the Langmuir film balance in order to study membranes, such as PM-IRRAS, BAM, SPOT, Fluorescence microscopy and traditional microscopy. These make it possible to study interactions, molecular orientation, packing and domain formation in the monolayer.
LB and LS dipping is one of the only methods for preparing supported bilayers of phospholipids where the layers have different lipid composition. It is possible to prepare for example biochemical sensors to be used with SPR, QCM and XPS among other technologies.