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Modeling the Interactions between Membranes and Inclusions: Designing Self‐Cleaning Films and Resealing Pores
Author(s) -
Balazs Anna C.,
Kuksenok Olga,
Alexeev Alexander
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/mats.200800057
Subject(s) - membrane , bilayer , janus , lipid bilayer , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , materials science , chemical engineering , chemical physics , chemistry , engineering , biochemistry
The design of responsive membranes whose interactions with inclusions can be controlled through the application of an external stimulus is reviewed with the aim to establish guidelines for introducing functionality into the materials. For a photo‐reactive AB membrane, we find that a gradient in light intensity can be harnessed to clean the system of any C “impurities”, or target the delivery of C to specific locations. By modeling the interactions between a lipid bilayer and Janus nanoparticles, we design a synthetic membrane with stable pores that can be controllably opened and closed. This leads to design rules for creating nanoparticle‐bilayer assemblies where the pores open and the cargo is released only when local environmental conditions reach a critical value.