Critical behavior of modulus of gel

Abstract

The critical behavior of the shear modulus of casein gel is studied. The shear modulus of casein gel scales with the conductivity exponent in the immediate vicinity of the sol–gel transition point. The asymptotic behavior of the modulus in the region far above the transition point is governed by a different exponent which is much larger than the conductivity exponent. These results are explainable by the crossover behavior of the percolation process. This study shows that the gelation of the casein micelle solution is a realization of the percolation process.