Monte Carlo simulations of complex formation between a mixed fluid vesicle and a charged colloid
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Monte Carlo simulations are employed to investigate the ability of a charged fluidlike vesicle to adhere to and encapsulate an oppositely charged spherical colloidal particle. The vesicle contains mobile charges that interact with the colloid and among themselves through a screened electrostatic potential. Both migration of charges on the vesicle surface and elastic deformations of the vesicle contribute to the optimization of the vesicle-colloid interaction. Our Monte Carlo simulations reveal a discontinuous wrapping transition of the colloid as a function of the number of charges on the vesicle. Upon reducing the bending stiffness of the vesicle, the transition terminates in a critical point. At large electrostatic screening length we find a reentrant wrapping-unwrapping behavior upon increasing the total number of charges on the vesicle. We present a simple phenomenological model that qualitatively captures some features of the wrapping transition.
Source: The Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI: 10.1063/1.3191782
Institutions: University of Ljubljana, North Dakota State University
Language: English
Subfield: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2030176647