Diffusivity of water

Range ~3,000 µm^2/sec
Organism Generic
Reference Olbrich K, Rawicz W, Needham D, Evans E. Water permeability and mechanical strength of polyunsaturated lipid bilayers. Biophys J. 2000 Jul 79(1):321-7. p.324 right columnPubMed ID10866958
Primary Source A. Finkelstein Water Movement Through Lipid Bilayers, Pores, and Plasma Membranes: Theory and Reality Wiley Interscience, New York (1987) AND B. Goldstein, M. Dembo Approximating the effects of diffusion on reversible reactions at the cell surface: ligand-receptor kinetics Biophys. J.., 68 (1995), pp. 1222–1230PubMed ID7787014
Method Abstract: "Micropipette aspiration was used to test mechanical strength and water permeability of giant-fluid bilayer vesicles composed of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine PC lipids."
Comments P.324 left column bottom paragraph: "Because of diffusion through unstirred layers adjacent to the bilayer, the prominent increase of permeability seen for the most unsaturated lipids (diC18:2 and diC18:3) was expected to be even more pronounced than revealed by the measurements of Pfapp [apparent permeability]. Conservatively, the added impedance is estimated by the ratio of a diffusion length set by the vesicle radius Rv = Dv/2 (∼10 μm) to the diffusivity Dw of water (∼3 × 10^3μm^2/s), which implies that 1/Pfapp ≈ 1/Pf + Rv/Dw (primary sources)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112490