Cellulose microcrystals, phase separation

Phase Separation and Ordering in Suspensions of Cellulose Microcrystals... 

To cause phase separation in a suspension or a gel of cellulose microcrystals, the salt concentration must exceed a certain value. This minimum value is shown in Figure 7 as a function of the concentration (solid curve). When this value of the salt concentration is exceeded, suspensions of 0.75% or higher separate into a more concentrated gel and a dilute suspension of concentrations approximately those expected if Figure 7 were... 

Figure 7. Minimum value of salt concentration needed to cause phase separation in suspensions of cellulose microcrystals of varying concentration...

This phase separation was subsequently observed in a variety of systems with the common feature that they contain rod-like colloidal particles dispersions of colloidal P-FeOOH52,53 and y-AlOOH particles, dispersions of tobacco mosaic virus >57 and the rod-like bacterial viruses fd and PfP9, solutions of deoxygenated sickle-cell haemoglobin O, dispersions of cellulose microcrystals and quite recently in dispersions of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) microcrystals. ... 

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