The self-assembly of hydrogels involves the interplay of many processes: thermodynamic demixing, molecular crosslinking and molecular conformational changes. Interactions among these processes lead to complex structures encompassing many length-scales. Here, we monitor experimentally changes of the structure of biomolecular aggregates during the melting of an agarose gel, that is during the inverse process of gelation, which exhibits a large hysteresis. Observations on different lengthscales clarify the role of the processes involved in sustaining irreversibility.
Blowing Up Reversibility In Biomolecular Self-Assembly.
M Manno;
2000
Abstract
The self-assembly of hydrogels involves the interplay of many processes: thermodynamic demixing, molecular crosslinking and molecular conformational changes. Interactions among these processes lead to complex structures encompassing many length-scales. Here, we monitor experimentally changes of the structure of biomolecular aggregates during the melting of an agarose gel, that is during the inverse process of gelation, which exhibits a large hysteresis. Observations on different lengthscales clarify the role of the processes involved in sustaining irreversibility.File in questo prodotto:
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