Three-dimensional multicomponent vesicles: dynamics and influence of material properties.

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Biophysics

Background:

• Vesicles are crucial in biological systems and materials science.
• Understanding multicomponent vesicle behavior in flow is essential for various applications.
• Previous studies often simplified vesicle composition or flow conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the nonlinear hydrodynamics of three-dimensional multicomponent vesicles in shear flow.
• To explore how membrane properties and flow dynamics influence vesicle behavior.
• To identify and characterize novel dynamic regimes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a volume- and area-conserving projection method.
• Employed a gradient-augmented level set and surface phase field approach.
• Systematically varied membrane bending rigidity difference, diffusion speed, and phase domain energy.

Main Results:

• Observed three distinct dynamics: stationary phase, phase-treading, and vertical banding.
• Found that vertical banding is highly sensitive to domain line energy relative to bending energy.
• Demonstrated that these regimes are dependent on the interplay between diffusion and shear flow.

Conclusions:

• Multicomponent vesicle dynamics in shear flow are complex and exhibit rich emergent behaviors.
• A full three-dimensional model is necessary for accurately capturing heterogeneous vesicle dynamics.
• Heterogeneous material properties significantly impact vesicle behavior in flow.