Rheological study of dialysis of concentrated D N A aqueous solution into multivalent cationic solution

Abstract

We have studied formation of liquid crystalline gel (LCG) induced by dialysis of concentrated DNA aqueous solutions into concentrated cobalt chloride solution. The condition of forming LCG was determined, and the time course of volume, DNA concentration, cobalt chloride concentration and thickness of LCG layer of DNA solution/gel composite were measured. It was found that the growth process of DNA LCG consists of two dynamics: cobalt cation diffusion limited process at the early stage and the pH change limited process at the later stage.