Hydrogels from diacylphosphatidylcholine

The formation of hydrogels from diacylphosphatidylcholine (PC) and water/glycerol mixtures and the properties of the gels are reported. The gels are formed when L_α phases from the PC in the solvent mixtures are cooled from T >55 °C below the Krafft temperature of the PC (T _m ∼52 °C). The glycerol can also be replaced by other co-solvents like butylenglycol. Above T _m, the PC spontaneously forms L_α phases with multilamellar vesicles that show a strong stationary birefringence. On cooling below T_m, the L_α phases jellify to transparent gels. DSC measurements of the gels show that the PC molecules undergo a phase transition into the crystalline state. This transition does not seem to be accompanied by a change of the morphological structure of the liquid L_α phase. The hydrogels also have a stationary birefringence. The vesicles in the gels have been imaged by the CryoTEM method. The hydrogels are already formed with as little as 1% of PC in the mixed solvent. The rheological properties of the gels were determined from oscillating rheological measurements. Samples with 10% of PC have a storage modulus of >10,000 Pa.