Edit page | Page history | Printable version

Gel

jelly like material formed by the coagulation of a colloidal liquid. Many gels have a fibrous matrix and fluid filled interstices: gels are viscoelastic rather than simply viscous and can resist some mechanical stress without deformation.

Examples are the gels formed by large molecules such as collagen (and gelatin), agarose, acrylamide and starch.