TY - JOUR
T1 - Structure of fibrin networks
AU - De Spirito, M.
AU - Arcovito, G.
AU - Andreasi Bassi, F.
AU - Rocco, M.
AU - Paganini, E.
AU - Greco, M.
AU - Ferri, F.
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - The structure of fibrin gels grown at room temperature from fibrinogen solutions at sevei'al fibrinogen concentrations was investigated by means of elastic light scattering. By combining Classical Light Scattering (CLS) and Low-Angle Elastic Light Scattering (LAELS) an overall wavevector range of more than two decades was spanned, from 7.8 × 102 to 3.3 × 05 cm-1. The scattered intensity distribution I(q) of all the gels was characterized by three different regimes. For q = q1 ∼ 2.5 × 103 cm-1, I(q) exhibits a maximum which indicates the presence of a long-range order in the gel structure, with an average mesh size ζ1 = 2ζ/q1 ∼ 25μm. For q1 2(q2 ∼ 1-3 × 105 cm-1), the scattered intensity distribution decays with a power law characterized by the mass fractal exponent Dm = 1.20 ±0.05, which is typical of branched linear polymers. At larger wavevectors, for q > q2, there is a crossover to a scattering from surface fractals, where I(q) decays with a power law characterized by an exponent of ~ -4. The length scale ζ2 = 1/q2 ∼ 80 nm is an estimate of the average diameters of the gel fibers. All our results, including the kinetics of gel formation, can be described in terms of a simple model.
AB - The structure of fibrin gels grown at room temperature from fibrinogen solutions at sevei'al fibrinogen concentrations was investigated by means of elastic light scattering. By combining Classical Light Scattering (CLS) and Low-Angle Elastic Light Scattering (LAELS) an overall wavevector range of more than two decades was spanned, from 7.8 × 102 to 3.3 × 05 cm-1. The scattered intensity distribution I(q) of all the gels was characterized by three different regimes. For q = q1 ∼ 2.5 × 103 cm-1, I(q) exhibits a maximum which indicates the presence of a long-range order in the gel structure, with an average mesh size ζ1 = 2ζ/q1 ∼ 25μm. For q1 2(q2 ∼ 1-3 × 105 cm-1), the scattered intensity distribution decays with a power law characterized by the mass fractal exponent Dm = 1.20 ±0.05, which is typical of branched linear polymers. At larger wavevectors, for q > q2, there is a crossover to a scattering from surface fractals, where I(q) decays with a power law characterized by an exponent of ~ -4. The length scale ζ2 = 1/q2 ∼ 80 nm is an estimate of the average diameters of the gel fibers. All our results, including the kinetics of gel formation, can be described in terms of a simple model.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33749636493&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33749636493&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33749636493
VL - 20
SP - 2409
EP - 2417
JO - Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica D - Condensed Matter, Atomic, Molecular and Chemical Physics, Biophysics
JF - Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica D - Condensed Matter, Atomic, Molecular and Chemical Physics, Biophysics
SN - 0392-6737
IS - 12 SUPPL.
ER -