Mucus as an Arrested Phase Separation Gel
Résumé
We investigate the spontaneous restructuring and
aging behavior of pig gastric mucus gels by combining rheology and
nonconventional static and dynamic light scattering. We find that the
mucus elasticity weakens over time, concomitantly to structural
evolution toward a locally more compact configuration and the onset
of large scale density fluctuations. We interpret this behavior as
stemming from an arrested phase separation, as observed in many
gel-forming polymer systems. This scenario is confirmed by spaceand
time-resolved dynamic light scattering data, showing that the gel
restructuring is due to intermittent bursts of spatially correlated
rearrangements, leading to ballistic dynamics.