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Updated: Jan 5, 2026

Aqueous Droplets Used as Enzymatic Microreactors and Their Electromagnetic Actuation
Published on: August 28, 2017
Reversible reactions controlled by surface diffusion on a sphere
1Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée (UMR 7643), CNRS - Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris, 91128 Palaiseau, France.
Abstract:
We study diffusion of particles on the surface of a sphere toward a partially reactive circular target with partly reversible binding kinetics. We solve the coupled diffusion-reaction equations and obtain the exact expressions for the time-dependent concentration of particles and the total diffusive flux. Explicit asymptotic formulas are derived in the small target limit. This study reveals the strong effects of reversible binding kinetics onto diffusion-mediated reactions that may be relevant for many biochemical reactions on cell membranes.
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