Thermodynamics of mechanical transduction of surface confined receptor/ligand reactions

Chemomechanics of surface stress is discussed in terms of interfacial thermodynamics. In the first section the paper shows how to quantitatively describe the chemical equilibrium of a receptor/ligand binding reaction confined at a solid–liquid interface and how the overall work of the reaction splits into chemical and surface work, that appears as a surface pressure. In the second section this thermodynamic model is applied to describe the experimental results of microcantilever bending induced by DNA hybridization occurring onto one of its faces.

Graphical abstractThe overall work of a receptor/ligand binding reaction confined at a solid–liquid interface splits into chemical and surface work, that appears as a surface pressure. If the surface is one of the faces of a microcantilever, the microcantilever balances the pressure by bending.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide