Soft-Lubrication Drainage and Rupture in Particle-Driven Vesicles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a force-driven inclusion causes deformation and potential rupture in lipid vesicles, revealing a robust elastohydrodynamic mechanism that depends on membrane softness and inclusion size, with implications for designing vesicle-based delivery systems.

Contribution

It uncovers a new elastohydrodynamic mechanism of vesicle deformation and rupture driven by a force-driven inclusion, highlighting the role of membrane softness and inclusion size.

Findings

Thinning film drains symmetrically and self-similarly during propulsion.

Coupling increases tension, potentially exceeding lysis threshold.

Mapping of operating window based on vesicle size and reduced area.

Abstract

The deformation and rupture of a lipid vesicle due to the forced normal approach of an inclusion are essential for optimizing the design of magnetic giant unilamellar vesicles [magGUVs, Malik et al., Nanoscale 17, 13720 (2025)], with implications for active colloid-membrane interactions and cellular-scale chemical delivery. Here, we investigate vesicles propelled by a force-driven rigid inclusion and reveal a robust elastohydrodynamic mechanism: the inclusion outpaces the vesicle, sustaining a thinning film that drains symmetrically and self-similarly, largely independent of initial shape. For soft membranes and small inclusions, coupling drives a monotonic tension increase that can exceed the lysis tension. Evaluating the maximal tension over a delivery distance, we map an operating window in vesicle reduced area and size relative to the inclusion.