Nanoscale hydrophobic interaction and nanobubble nucleation

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Oct 29;93(18):185701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.185701. Epub 2004 Oct 25.

Abstract

We report large-scale atomistic simulation of midrange nanoscale hydrophobic interaction, manifested by the nucleation of nanobubble between nanometer-sized hydrophobes at constrained equilibrium. When the length scale of the hydrophobes is greater than 2 nm, the nanobubble formation shows hysteresis behavior resembling the first-order transition. Calculation of the potential of mean force versus interhydrophobe distance provides a quantitative measure of the strength of the nanoscale hydrophobic interaction.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions*
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Protein Folding
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Thermodynamics
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Water