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arXiv · 0802.1422

Critical swelling of particle-encapsulating vesicles

Emir Haleva·Haim Diamant
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Abstract

We consider a ubiquitous scenario where a fluctuating, semipermeable vesicle is embedded in solution while enclosing a fixed number of solute particles. The swelling with increasing number of particles or decreasing concentration of the outer solution exhibits a continuous phase transition from a fluctuating state to the maximum-volume configuration, whereupon appreciable pressure difference and surface tension build up. This criticality is unique to particle-encapsulating vesicles, whose volume and inner pressure both fluctuate. It implies a universal swelling behavior of such vesicles as they approach their limiting volume and osmotic lysis.

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Emir Haleva, Haim Diamant. 2008-08-16. Critical swelling of particle-encapsulating vesicles. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.101.078104

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