Droplet-induced budding transitions of membranes

Kusumaatmaja, H.; Lipowsky, R.

doi:10.1039/c1sm05499f

Droplet-induced budding transitions of membranes

Kusumaatmaja, H.; Lipowsky, R.

Authors

Professor Halim Kusumaatmaja halim.kusumaatmaja@durham.ac.uk
Professor

R. Lipowsky

Abstract

Motivated by recent experiments on biomimetic membranes exposed to several aqueous phases, we theoretically study the morphology of a membrane in contact with a liquid droplet formed via aqueous phase separation. We concentrate on membranes with negligible spontaneous curvature. At small droplet volumes, bending energy dominates and the droplet is only partially wrapped by the membrane. At large volumes, this configuration can become unstable and undergo a discontinuous transition to a state in which the droplet is (almost) completely wrapped by the membrane. A morphology diagram, showing the parameter region where such budding transition occurs, is constructed as a function of the membrane tension and the intrinsic contact angle of the liquid with the membrane. The effects of spontaneous curvature are discussed qualitatively.

Citation

Kusumaatmaja, H., & Lipowsky, R. (2011). Droplet-induced budding transitions of membranes. Soft Matter, 7(15), 6914-6919. https://doi.org/10.1039/c1sm05499f

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Aug 7, 2011
Deposit Date	May 22, 2013
Publicly Available Date	Apr 24, 2014
Journal	Soft Matter
Print ISSN	1744-683X
Electronic ISSN	1744-6848
Publisher	Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	7
Issue	15
Pages	6914-6919
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1039/c1sm05499f