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Gelation dynamics upon pressure-induced liquid-liquid phase separation in a water-lysozyme solution

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 نشر من قبل Christian Gutt
 تاريخ النشر 2021
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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Employing X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy we measure the kinetics and dynamics of a pressure-induced liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in a water-lysozyme solution. Scattering invariants and kinetic information provide evidence that the system reaches the phase boundary upon pressure-induced LLPS with no sign of arrest. The coarsening slows down with increasing quench depths. The $g_2$-functions display a two-step decay with a gradually increasing non-ergodicity parameter typical for gelation. We observe fast superdiffusive ($gamma geq 3/2$) and slow subdiffusive ($gamma < 0.6$) motion associated with fast viscoelastic fluctuations of the network and a slow viscous coarsening process, respectively. The dynamics age linear with time $tau propto t_mathrm{w}$ and we observe the onset of viscoelastic relaxation for deeper quenches. Our results suggest that the protein solution gels upon reaching the phase boundary.



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