Research

Phase separation on anisotropic colloids

Like a mixture of oil and water, lipid membranes separate into droplets of one phase in the other. To study how this process happens on curved surfaces, we have introduced a new class of vesicles supported by colloidal scaffolds of different shapes (spheres, cubes and dumbbells), suited to investigate the intricate interplay between the geometry and chemical composition of lipid membranes.

M. Rinaldin, P. Fonda, L. Giomi and D. J. Kraft, "Geometric pinning and antimixing in scaffolded lipid vesicles" accepted in Nat. Comm. (2020)

M. Rinaldin, P. Fonda, L. Giomi and D. J. Kraft, "Lipid exchange enhances geometric pinning in multicomponent membranes on patterned substrates", Soft Matter 16 4932-4940 (2020).
M. Rinaldin, R. W. Verweij, I. Chakrarborty, D. J. Kraft, "Colloid supported lipid bilayers for self-assembly", Soft Matter 15 (6), 1345-1360 (2019)

P. Fonda, M. Rinaldin , D. J. Kraft and L. Giomi, "Thermodynamic equilibrium of binary mixtures on curved surfaces", Phys. Rev. E 100 (3), 032604 (2019).

P. Fonda, M. Rinaldin , D. J. Kraft and L. Giomi, "Interface geometry of binary mixtures on curved substrates", Phys. Rev. E 98 , 032801 (2018)

Lipid membranes on 3D micro-printed surfaces

We have developed a method to make lipid membranes of arbitrary shape by using 3D scaffolds micro-printed with Nanoscribe (Nanoscribe GmbH, Germany) as a support for the membrane. We can make membranes of any shape, even the one of the academy building of Leiden University.

M. Rinaldin, B. ten Haaf, J. Salaris, E. J. Vegter, C. van der Wel, and D. J. Kraft , "Supported lipid bilayers on 3D micro-printed scaffolds and their applications", in preparation.

Light induced non-equilibrium fluctuations in vesicles

By stressing Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) with light it is possible to induce phase separation in vesicles. This is a non-equilibrium process and interestingly we have observed that when the vesicles are switching between the mixed and the phase-separated state they show large fluctuations.

The banner is a picture of 3D printed models of the colloids and microstructures used in my research.

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