Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The migration of giant phospholipidic vesicles along an inclined plane in a quiescent fluid was observed as a function of the mass and the radius R of the vesicles, and as a function of the angle of inclination of the plane. Vesicles were swollen, and did not adhere to the substrate surface. It was observed from a side-view chamber that they have quasispherical shapes. The vesicles mainly slide along the plane, but also roll. The ratio omegaR/v of rotational to translational velocities is of the order of 0.15 for vesicles of radius ranging from 10 to 30 microm. Values of this ratio, and variations of v versus R, are well described by Goldman et al.'s model developed for the motion of rigid spheres close to a wall Chem. Eng. Sci. 22, 637 (1967). In this framework, the thickness of the fluid film between the vesicle and the substrate derived from fitting experimental data was found to be equal to 48 nm.
Abkarian et al. (Tue,) studied this question.