Understanding behavior of nanoparticles embedded in lipid membranes is important for development of novel biomedical devices and assessment of potentially harmful effects of nanomaterials on living cells. The current work is focused on theoretical and computational investigation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded in a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine lipid bilayer. Our molecular dynamics (MD) simulations indicate existence of a long-range attractive force between the CNTs. This suggests that the CNTs may form large clusters which may significantly perturb the membrane structure and lead to membrane destabilization. The long range of the CNT-CNT interactions suggests that these interactions are mediated by the membrane. CNTs embedded into the bilayer create a stress in the membrane interior and an impetus to minimize this stress creates a force between the CNTs. We analyze spatial dependence of CNT-induced stresses in the membrane and compare results of the MD simulations with predictions of a theoretical model for membrane elasticity.

Membrane-mediated interactions between carbon nanotubes embedded in a lipid membrane

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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