Figure 3

DSC and rheology data of 2% pH = 5.37 system. (a) DSC of the hydrogel and the corresponding freeze-dried xerogel (cooling/heating rate = 2 °C/min). The starting-point (≅ 30 °C) and the estimated end-point (≅49 °C) of the gel-to-gel transition were marked. (b) The combined DSC data (taken from Fig. 3a) and dynamic rheological data (strain = 2%; ω = 10 rad/s) of the hydrogel, where the temperature of the sample was lowered from 55 °C to 20 °C in a stepwise fashion (the waiting time between temperature changes was 300 s).