GUVs are commonly produced by either gentle hydration or electroformation. Although both methods start with a lipid mixture dried as a film, for gentle hydration the film is dried onto glass, while for electroformation the film is dried onto either platinum electrodes or iridium tin oxide slides . Films used for gentle hydration have either aqueous buffer or a sucrose solution added before being heated above the melting point of the lipid mixture . Films used for electroformation are also rehydrated, typically at low ionic strength, before alternating current is applied to the film, which assists in the formation of GUVs .