The transmittance of the water-soluble samples (20% thionation degree and below) were measured at 600 nm wavelength, as a function of temperature using a V-750 UV-vis spectrophotometer (JASCO, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with a CTU-100 thermostat system (JASCO, Tokyo, Japan). Temperatures were measured directly from the sample while controlling the temperature with the sample holder. All samples were prepared from a 10 g/L stock solution, diluted to respective concentrations, and stored at least overnight at 4 °C (in their dissolved state) before the measurements. The heating and cooling rates were 1 °C min -1 . All transmittance values were normalized. The onset and offset temperatures were determined by identifying when transmittance starts to decrease (onset) and when it stabilizes after the transition (offset). Tcp of each sample were defined from the midpoint of the onset and offset temperatures of the heating transition curves. Solutions of S12 and S0 samples in D2O were prepared the same way stated above with 3 repetitions, and turbidity measurements were conducted with the same method.