Ion Channels: Structure and Function. Ion channels are membrane protein complexes and their function is to facilitate the diffusion of ions across biological membranes. Membranes, or phospholipid bilayers, build a hydrophobic, low dielectric barrier to hydrophilic and charged molecules. They are electrical insulators.
The inert gas xenon (chemical symbol Xe) has an atomic number of 54, and it has 54 protons in its nucleus. The number of neutrons varies, however.
Xenon was discovered in 1898, in London, by William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They discovered it in the residue remaining after liquid air had been fractionally distilled. Spectroscopic analysis showed the previously unseen beautiful blue lines that indicated the presence of a new element â xenon. Travers wrote of their discovery, âkrypton yellow appeared very faint, the green almost absent.