Sol ‐ gel transition in biopolymers

Abstract
Rheological measurements have been performed on pectin biopolymers close to the sol‐gel transition. From these measurements scaling exponents were determined independently for the viscosity, s = 0.82(5), for the elastic modulus, t = 1.93(8), for the frequency‐dependent modulus, Δ = 0.71(2), and for the relaxation times below and above the transition, vz = 2.67(12) and vz' = 2.65(9). The exponents satisfy the scaling relations predicted by the theory and their numerical values agree with those from scalar elasticity percolation.