Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.113, No.11, 4808-4813, 2000
Hosted particle positions and dipole moments of protein-filled reverse micelles
The nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation is solved numerically in reverse water-in-oil droplet microemulsions with globular charged particles located at arbitrary positions inside the droplets. System free energies are calculated for both mono and dipole charged particles which are usually protein molecules. We find that average particle locations inside the droplets are always off center. Droplet dipole moments induced by the off center particles are also computed. Inter-micelle dipole-dipole interaction is estimated to be at the right magnitude to account for some of the percolation threshold decrease observed experimentally.