Effects of Strain on the Melting Temperature

The gelatin-type of triple heUx may be considered a type of crystal indeed, the denaturing and renaturing of these gels is a first-order transition. However, it has been modeled as a nucleated, one-dimensional crystallization, as opposed to the ordinary three-dimensional crystallization of bulk materials. 

Equation (9.93) was derived from the assumption that the system can be treated as being composed of two independent phases, obtained directly by equating the chemical potentials of the strained amorphous and crystalline phases. The function of the extension ratio, given in equation (9.33) yields the dependence of the change in free energy on elongation. 

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