Single molecule diffusion in critical lipid bilayers

Abstract

Time-dependent single molecule diffusion coefficients are discussed for a fluorescent probe molecule in lipid mixtures near a miscibility critical point. The calculations take advantage of the theoretical wave vector dependent composition diffusion coefficients obtained by Inaura and Fujitani [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 77, 114603 (2008)]. It is suggested that the diffusion of the probe molecule reflects in part the time-dependent composition diffusion near a critical point. The calculations show a striking biphasic time-dependent diffusion that switches from a faster diffusion at short times to a slower diffusion at a time approximately equal to πξ(2)/D where ξ is the correlation length and D is the composition diffusion coefficient at the switch time. This biphasic diffusion should be readily detectable experimentally.