Fig. 2: Small-angle scattering reveals two distinct network architectures accessed by altering the building block aspect ratio.

a Schematic depicting the different q-regions of SANS curves and the potential information that can be extracted. Including low q (characteristic network length scale, ξ or Ξ); mid-q (building block length, L, and network geometry, i.e. fractal dimension, D_f); and high-q (building block width, d). b SANS curves for pL hydrogels as a function of building block aspect ratio (AR) at a protein concentration of 50 mg ml⁻¹. Data points are the mean values of logarithmically binned histograms at each q-value; the y error bars show the standard error, while the x error bars are related to the detector resolution. The number of independent sample repeats, n = 1. c Extracted structure factor for pL hydrogels as a function of building block AR at protein concentrations of 50 mg ml⁻¹. The error bars show the propagated errors from Fig. 2b. d Extracted fractal dimension of pL hydrogels as a function of building block AR at protein concentrations of 25 mg ml⁻¹ (light purple) and 50 mg ml⁻¹ (dark purple). The error bars here denote the fitting error of the fractal dimension to SANS curves. Solid lines show a linear (light purple) and sigmoid (dark purple) fit to the 25 and 50 mg ml⁻¹ data, respectively. Supplementary Table 3 shows the equivalent protein and water volume fractions of pL hydrogel. e Schematic representation of structural changes as building block AR is increased while at a constant concentration of 25 mg ml⁻¹ (light purple) and 50 mg ml⁻¹ (dark purple).