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Lipid Bilayer Self-Assembly Simulator

Interactive phospholipid bilayer self-assembly simulator: amphiphilic phospholipids scattered in water spontaneously organize into a membrane, with saturated vs unsaturated tail mix and temperature controlling fluidity and the gel/liquid-crystalline phase transition.

Chemistry & Materials3DAdvanced60 FPS💧 Water

Phospholipid molecules — each an amphiphilic head bonded to two hydrophobic tails — start scattered at random in water and spontaneously self-organize into a two-leaflet bilayer, driven purely by short-range repulsion and a hydrophobic tail-tail attraction. Tune the fraction of unsaturated (kinked) lipids in the mixture and the temperature to see the membrane cross a real gel ↔ liquid-crystalline phase transition around a composition-dependent melting point.

⚙ Under the hood

Coarse-grained bead-spring simulation of phospholipid amphiphilic self-assembly: heads and tails scattered in water spontaneously form a bilayer via short-range repulsion plus hydrophobic tail-tail attraction. Tune the unsaturated-lipid fraction and temperature to see a real composition-dependent gel/liquid-crystalline phase transition.

Three.jschemistrybiochemistrylipid bilayerself-assemblyphase transition

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install