Wetting of Membranes and Vesicles

    Aqueous solutions containing several species of water-soluble polymers such as dextran and polyethylen glycol (PEG) undergo phase separation as soon as the polymer concentrations exceed a few weight percent. Membranes and vesicles suspended in such a solution are then exposed to different aqueous phases. Since these phases differ in their molecular composition, they experience different molecular interactions with the membranes and, thus, differ in their ability to wet the membranes. The associated wetting behavior can be characterized by an intrinsic contact angle [1], which represents a material parameter and can be calculated from the effective contact angles as measured by optical microscopy.

    Complete wetting of the membrane by one of the aqueous phases is characterized by vanishing contact angle. As one changes the polymer concentration, the system may undergo a complete-to-partial wetting transition [2], at which the intrinsic contact angle attains a nonvanishing value. In addition, deflation-induced phase separation within vesicles leads to the formation of a large number of membrane nanotubes [3], which reveal a negative spontaneous curvature of the membranes.


  • Yonggang Liu, R. Lipowsky, and R. Dimova
    Concentration dependence of the interfacial tension for aqueous two-phase polymer solutions of dextran and polyethylene glycol.
    Langmuir 28, 3831-3839 (2012). PDF (410 KB)

  • Yanhong Li, H. Kusumaatmaja, R. Lipowsky, and R. Dimova
    Wetting-induced budding of vesicles in contact with several aqueous phases.
    J. Phys. Chem. B 116, 1819-1823 (2012). PDF (221 KB)

  • H. Kusumaatmaja and R. Lipowsky
    Droplet-induced budding transitions of membranes.
    Soft Matter 7, 6914-6919 (2011). PDF (242 KB)

  • Yanhong Li, R. Lipowsky, and R. Dimova
    Membrane nanotubes induced by aqueous phase separation and stabilized by spontaneous curvature.
    PNAS 108, 4731-4736 (2011). PDF (1 MB)
    Supporting Information: PDF (1.2 MB)

  • H. Kusumaatmaja, Yanhong Li, R. Dimova, and R. Lipowsky
    Intrinsic contact angle of aqueous phases at membranes and vesicles.
    Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 238103 (2009) PDF (272 KB)

  • Yanhong Li, R. Lipowsky, and R. Dimova
    Transition from complete to partial wetting within membrane compartments.
    JACS 130, 12252-12253 (2008). PDF (336 KB)
    Supporting Information: PDF (64 KB)