M. J. Greenall, C. M. Marques
Bilayer membranes self-assembled from simple amphiphiles in solution always have a planar ground-state shape. This general principle is a robust consequence of several internal relaxation mechanisms of the membrane and prevents the straightforward control of the size of vesicles. Here, we show that this principle can be circumvented and that direct size control by molecular design is a realistic possibility. Using coarse-grained calculations, we design tetrablock copolymers that form membranes with a preferred curvature, and demonstrate how to make the free energies of these structures lower than those of other self-assembled geometries.
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http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.7006
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