Asymmetric Diffusion

Abstract

Diffusion rates through a membrane can be asymmetric, if the diffusing particles are spatially extended and the pores in the membrane have asymmetric structure. This phenomenon is demonstrated here via a deterministic simulation of a two-species hard-disk gas, and via simulations of two species in Brownian motion, diffusing through a membrane that is permeable to one species but not the other. In its extreme form, this effect will rapidly seal off flow in one direction through a membrane, while allowing free flow in the other direction. The system thus relaxes to disequilibrium, with very different densities of the permeable species on each side of the membrane. A single species of appropriately shaped particles will exhibit the same effect when diffusing through appropriately shaped pores. We hypothesize that purely geometric effects discussed here may play a role in common biological contexts such as membrane ion channels.