Interaction between charged membrane surfaces mediated by charged nanoparticles

Abstract

The interaction between charged membrane surfaces, separated by a solution containing charged nanoparticles was studied experimentally and theoretically. The nonlocal theory for the nanoparticles was developed where finite size of nanoparticles and spatial distribution of charge within a particle were taken into account. It was shown that for large enough membrane surface charge densities and large enough dimensions of nanoparticles, the force between equally charged membranes may be attractive due to spatially distributed charges within the nanoparticles.