title: Nonadditivity in van der Waals interactions within multilayers.
abstract: Working at the macroscopic continuum level, we investigate effective van der Waals interactions between two layers within a multilayer assembly. By comparing the pair interactions between two layers with effective pair interactions within an assembly we assess the significant consequences of nonadditivity of van der Waals interactions. This allows us to evaluate the best numerical estimate to date for the Hamaker coefficient of van der Waals interactions in lipid-water multilamellar systems.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical and Structural Biology, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0924, USA. rudi@helix.nih.gov
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Podgornik
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: French
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Parsegian
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010743:Phospholipids; D014867:Water