https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050563
Bending of charged flexible membranes due to the presence of macroions
Materials Research Laboratory, University
of California, Santa Barbara, CA
93106-5130, USA
Corresponding author: a heli@mrl.ucsb.edu
Received:
9
February
1998
Revised:
9
June
1998
Accepted:
2
July
1998
Published online: 15 December 1998
We investigate the bending of flexible charged membranes due to the presence of rigid rodlike macroions in the framework of the Debye-Hückel approximation. When the macroions are fixed in space at some distance from the bilayer the membrane bends towards them; we calculate the exact deformation profile. On the other hand a macroion which is adsorbed on the membrane causes a deflection of the bilayer. Finally, we consider swollen lamellar polyanion/charged-lipid complexes where the macroions are intercalated between charged lipid bilayers. We predict the occurrence of a double adsorption (pinching effect) of the macroion for sufficiently flexible membranes.
PACS: 68.10.-m – Fluid surfaces and fluid-fluid interfaces / 64.70.Md – Transitions in liquid crystals / 82.70.Kj – Emulsions and suspensions
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1998
