Shape fluctuations and elastic properties of two-component bilayer membranes
Abstract
The elastic properties of two-component bilayer membranes are studied using a coarse-grain model for amphiphilic molecules. The two species of amphiphiles considered here differ only in their length. Molecular-dynamics simulations are performed in order to analyze the shape fluctuations of the two-component bilayer membranes and to determine their bending rigidity. Both the bending rigidity and its inverse are found to be nonmonotonic functions of the mole fraction xB of the shorter B-amphiphiles and, thus, do not satisfy a simple lever rule. The intrinsic area of the bilayer also exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on xB and a maximum close to xB simeq 1/2.
- Publication:
-
EPL (Europhysics Letters)
- Pub Date:
- February 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1209/epl/i2004-10382-3
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/0412407
- Bibcode:
- 2005EL.....69..650I
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
- E-Print:
- To appear on Europhysics Letters