2025/02/17 by Zhao, Shuozhen, Balu, Bhavya, Yu, Zongxin +2
#Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.11319
Cells and cellular organelles are encapsulated by nanometrically thin membranes whose main component is a lipid bilayer. In the presence of electric fields, the ion-impermeable lipid bilayer acts as a capacitor and supports a potential difference across the membrane. We analyze the charging dynamics of a planar membrane separating bulk solutions with different electrolyte concentrations upon the application of an applied uniform DC electric field. The membrane is modeled as a zero-thickness capacitive interface. The evolution of the electric potential and ions distributions in the bulk are solved for using the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations. Asymptotic solutions are derived in the limit of thin Debye layers and weak fields (compared to the thermal electric potential).