Akademik

1. Nägeli term for elongated sub(light)microscopic particles, detected in hydrogels, of supramolecular character and crystalline structure; now defined as one of two classes of colloidal particle : those consisting of many molecules, the other class being single macromolecules light- or submicroscopic in size. A m. is thus a structural unit of the disperse phase in a gel, a unit whose repetition in three dimensions constitutes the micellar structure of the gel; it does not denote the individual particles in free suspension or solution, or the unit structure of a crystal. 2. Any water-soluble aggregate, spontaneously and reversibly, formed from amphiphile molecules. 3. A hypothetical ordered region in a natural fiber such as cellulose. [L. micella, small morsel, dim. of mica, morsel, grain]

mi·celle mī-'sel n a unit of structure built up from polymeric molecules or ions: as

a) an ordered region in a fiber (as of cellulose or rayon)

b) a molecular aggregate that constitutes a colloidal particle

one of the microscopic particles into which the products of fat digestion (i.e. fatty acids and monoglycerides), present in the gut, are dispersed by the action of bile salts. Fatty material in this finely dispersed form is more easily absorbed by the small intestine.