Fig. 3.

Fibril networks control the number and size of daughter droplets. a The average diameter of daughter droplets is independent of the size of the mother droplet but increases linearly with increasing w/w interfacial tension. b After decomposition of fibril networks, the total surface area of the daughter droplets increases linearly with initial fibril concentration. c Radius and number of stabilized protrusions as a function of fibril concentration. Scale bars, 100 µm. d Diameter of stabilized daughter droplets as a function of the product of shrinkage ratio (η) and initial fibril concentration (C_fibril). e Phase diagram summarizing the effects of shrinkage ratio and initial fibril concentration on the division regimes of w/w droplets loaded with protein nanofibrils. The initial diameter of the mother droplet was 250 ± 20 µm. Inset: optical microscope images showing representative w/w droplets in the multiple (top) and single (bottom) division regimes. Scale bars are 200 µm. The solid blue lines in a–e are predictions from Eq. (2). The size of daughter droplets, measured from 50 replicates, are expressed as (mean ± s.d.)