From macroscopic adhesion energy to molecular bonds: A test of the theory - art. no. 178101

We present a statistical mechanical treatment relating the macroscopic adhe sion energy of two surfaces, which can be obtained by micropipette aspirati on studies, to the microscopic adhesion energy between individual bonds. Th e treatment deals with the case of weak reversible bonds, so that the equil ibrium partition function has significance. This description is coherent wi th previous theories. Experiment and theory are compared to probe the natur e of weak bonds in membranes, where local equilibria can be obtained. The c ase of a bead and a vesicle decorated by nucleosides was considered.