Undulation instability of lipid membranes under an electric field

Pierre Sens; Hervé Isambert

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.88.128102

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Undulation instability of lipid membranes under an electric field

Pierre Sens·Hervé Isambert

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Abstract

The influence of an electric field on a poorly conductive membrane such as a lipid bilayer is studied theoretically. The unbalanced electric stress created by an ionic current across a non-perfectly flat membrane gives rise to a destabilizing surface energy enhancing undulations. The deformation of a membrane attached to a frame and the subsequent force on the frame are derived and the electrohydrodynamic instability of a free floating membrane is also studied. We find a most unstable mode of undulation, of wavelength in the $μm$ range, connected to the crossover between membrane and solvent dominated dissipations.

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Pierre Sens, Hervé Isambert. 2001-06-29. Undulation instability of lipid membranes under an electric field. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.88.128102

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