Adhesion of like-charged lipid vesicles induced by rod-like counterions

• Published in: Soft matter Vol. 14; no. 19; pp. 3935 - 3944
• Main Authors: Volpe Bossa, Guilherme, Souza, Tereza Pereira de, May, Sylvio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 2018
• Subjects: Adhesion; Attraction; Charging; Conformation; Demixing; Dependence; Lipids; Mathematical models; Mean field theory; Membranes; Qualitative analysis; Stiffness; Variation; Vesicles

Adhesion of electrically charged lipid vesicles and subsequent formation of multi-vesicle aggregates can be induced by multivalent rod-like counterions. Motivated by recent experimental observations we calculate the equilibrium conformation of two identical vesicles that adhere onto each other. The...