Anomalous Fluctuations in a Droplet of Chemically Active Colloids or Enzymes

Chemically active colloids or enzymes cluster into dense droplets driven by their phoretic response to collectively generated chemical gradients. Employing Brownian dynamics simulation techniques, our study of the dynamics of such a chemically active droplet uncovers a rich variety of structures and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 133; no. 5; p. 058401
Main Authors Prathyusha, K R, Saha, Suropriya, Golestanian, Ramin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 02.08.2024
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Summary:Chemically active colloids or enzymes cluster into dense droplets driven by their phoretic response to collectively generated chemical gradients. Employing Brownian dynamics simulation techniques, our study of the dynamics of such a chemically active droplet uncovers a rich variety of structures and dynamical properties, including the full range of fluidlike to solidlike behavior, and non-Gaussian positional fluctuations. Our work sheds light on the complex dynamics of the active constituents of metabolic clusters, which are the main drivers of nonequilibrium activity in living systems.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.058401