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Non-equilibrium behavior of lysozyme solutions: beads, clusters and gels

H. Sedgwick, K. Kroy, A. Salonen, M. B. Robertson, S. U. Egelhaaf, W. C. K. Poon

cond-mat.softarXiv:cond-mat/0309616

Abstract

Observation of salt-induced aggregation of lysozyme at pH = 4.5, 22C by optical microscopy revealed four regimes: bicontinuous texture, `beads', large aggregates, and transient gelation. The interaction of a metastable liquid-liquid binodal and an ergodic to non-ergodic transition boundary inside the equilibrium crystallization region can explain our findings. Lysozyme data at -2C, as well as many literature results, are consistent with the relative movement of these boundaries.

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