Prof. Dr. Raffaele Mezzenga
Protein Nanofibrils generated from globular proteins by unfolding, hydrolysis and one-dimensional polymerization are colloidal aggregates exhibiting mesoscopic properties comparable to those of natural polyelectrolytes, yet with persistence lengths several orders of magnitude beyond the Debye length. This intrinsic rigidity, together with their chiral, polar and charged nature, provides these systems with some unique colloidal behavior, which share similarities and differences compared to other filamentous colloids. In this talk I will discuss our current understanding on the physical properties of food protein nanofibrils and the implications on their liquid crystalline properties.