Investigation of the scaling law on cellulose solution prepared at low temperature

Cellulose was dissolved rapidly in a 9.5 wt % NaOH/4.5 wt % thiourea aqueous solution pre-cooled to -5 degrees C to prepare its concentrated solution, in which inclusion complexes (ICs) associated with cellulose, NaOH, thiourea, and water clusters were created. Physical gels could form in the cellulose solution at either high temperature or after long storage time, because of aggregation between the ICs. To clarify whether the Winter and Chambon theory could describe the gelation process of this complex system, we have investigated carefully the viscoelastic behavior of the cellulose solution with the advanced rheological expanded system (ARES). In the temperature range from 10 to 25 degrees C, we have successfully measured the loss tangent (tan delta) at the gel point according to the Winter and Chambon theory, showing the independence of tan delta on the frequency for the cellulose solution. The exponents of the scaling laws eta 0 proportional, variant epsilon-gamma and Ge proportional, variant epsilon z for the cellulose solution at 10 degrees C before and beyond the gel point were confirmed to be in agreement with the predicted values based on the percolation theory. The high sensitivity of the cellulose solution on temperature poses a limit for the application of the scaling law for the wide temperature range. The gel formed from the cellulose solution at 30 degrees C at long storage time could undergo a transition to a transparent liquid state after stirring at -5 degrees C. At the same time, the loss modulus (G' ') exceeds the storage modulus (G'), indicating a partially reversible sol-gel transition, as a result of the reconstruction of the hydrogen-bond networks between the solvent and cellulose.     

海藻酸钠水溶液的Sol-Gel转变与凝胶化点的决定

测定了 4个分子量和分子量分布不同、M G不同的海藻酸钠试样在不同浓度下的恒温 (2 5℃ )动态粘弹谱 ,发现 4个试样随溶液浓度升高都会发生溶胶 凝胶 (Sol gel)转变 .实验结果表明 ,该转变符合Winter和Chambon的凝胶化点临界状态的松弛模量G(t)方程 ,由tanδ不依赖于ω的判据求出了海藻酸钠水溶液随浓度变化发生Sol gel转变、出现物理凝胶化的凝胶化点溶液浓度cgel和临界指数n .cgel=7 6wt%～ 8 0wt% ,基本与分子量无关 ;分子量较高的 3个试样的n =0 32～ 0 38,而分子量低的试样的n =0 6 1.该结果表明 ,物理凝胶化主要是由大分子重复单元间的相互作用决定 ,分子链越长则凝胶化点的交联结构越完善     

The drug release profile from calcium-induced alginate gel beads coated with an alginate hydrolysate

Calcium-induced alginate gel bead (Alg-Ca) coated with an alginate hydrolysate (Alg), e.g. the guluronic acid block (GB) was prepared and the model drug, hydrocortisone release profiles were investigated under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Their molecular weights were one sixth or one tenth that of Alg and the diffraction patterns of the hydrolysates resembled that of Alg. The drug release rate from Alg-Ca coated with GB apparently lowered than that of Alg-Ca (coating-free) in the gastric juice (pH1.2). And the coating did not resist the disintegration of Alg-Ca in the intestinal juice (pH 6.8) and the gel erosion accelerated the drug release. On the other hand, for the coated Alg-Ca containing chitosan, the drug release showed zero-order kinetics without rapid erosion of Alg-Ca. The drug release rate from Alg-Ca was able to be controlled by the coating and modifying the composition of the gel matrix.     

海藻酸盐凝胶化及其在软骨组织工程和药物控释领域的应用（专题报道）

 介绍了海藻酸盐水溶液的凝胶化及其临界行为和松弛临界指数n.提出了将凝胶化按高分子的分子链长短分为生长型和交联型两类,前者为无规交联,符合逾渗连接的条件;后者大分子链间交联,不符合无规逾渗连接的条件.介绍了微囊化细胞载体、预成型支架和可注射支架,能够为软骨细胞提供良好的三维生长环境;通过LbL、二价离子交联等自组装技术,海藻酸能够实现对多种类型药物的包埋和控释.     

Comparison in fractal dimension between those obtained from structure factor and viscoelasticity of gel networks of 1,3:2,4-bis-O-(p-methylbenzylidene)-D-sorbitol in polystyrene melt at gel point

We investigated time evolution of shear moduli in the physical gelation process of 1,3:2,4-bis-O-(p-methylbenzylidene)-D-sorbitol in polystyrene melt. At the gel point, storage and loss shear moduli, G' and G", were described by the power law of frequency omega, G' approximately G" approximately omegan, with the critical exponent n being nearly equal to 2/3, in agreement with the value predicted by the percolation theory. We also investigated the structure factor over two decades in length scale at gel point by using ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering. We found the power-law behavior in low-q region, indicating that the gel network forms the self-similar structure with mass-fractal dimension. Comparison between the exponent of mass-fractal dimension from structure factor and that from viscoelasticity indicates that hydrodynamic interactions are completely screened out and the excluded volume effects are dominant in the gel. The gel strength was found to increase with the decrease in the lower limit length scale of fractality.     

Micellar spheres in a high frequency oscillatory field

The viscoelasticity of aqueous micellar solutions of two oxyethylene/oxybutylene block copolymers (E(92)B(18) and B(20)E(510)) has been investigated using a torsional resonator operated at 26 kHz. For both systems considered, values of the dynamic viscosity (eta'(infinity)) point to partial draining of the micellar corona induced by the high-frequency oscillatory field. At low effective volume fractions, values of the elastic modulus (G'(infinity)) indicate that the repulsive interactions between micelles can be modeled by a power law function u(r) proportional to 1/r(nu) with exponents close to 13 and 6 for copolymers E(92)B(18) and B(20)E(510) respectively. At a critical copolymer concentration (c*) plots of log(G'(infinity)) against log(c) deviate from the straight lines established at low concentrations, implying that the systems undergo ergodic/nonergodic transitions.     

Turbidity determination of the critical exponent eta in the liquid-liquid mixture methanol and cyclohexane

The turbidity of the liquid-liquid mixture methanol-cyclohexane has been measured very near its critical point and used to test competing theoretical predictions and to determine the critical correlation-correction exponent eta. By measuring the ratio of the transmitted to incident light intensities over five decades in reduced temperature, we are able to determine that Ferrell's theoretical prediction for the turbidity explains the data with the correlation length amplitude xi0=0.330+/-0.003 nm and critical exponents eta=0.041+/-0.005 and nu=0.632+/-0.002. These values are consistent with the values measured before for xi0 in this system and with the exponents predicted by theory. The data allow five different theoretical expressions to be tested and to select two as being equivalent when very close to the critical point.     

Nonlinear viscoelasticity of sorbitan tristearate monolayers at liquid/gas interface

The interfacial rheology of sorbitan tristearate monolayers formed at the liquid/air interface reveal a distinct nonlinear viscoelastic behavior under oscillatory shear usually observed in many 3D metastable complex fluids with large structural relaxation times. At large strain amplitudes (gamma), the storage modulus (G') decreases monotonically whereas the loss modulus (G') exhibits a peak above a critical strain amplitude before it decreases at higher strain amplitudes. The power law decay exponents of G' and G' are in the ratio 2:1. The peak in G' is absent at high temperatures and low concentration of sorbitan tristearate. Strain-rate frequency sweep measurements on the monolayers do indicate a strain-rate dependence on the structural relaxation time. The present study on sorbitan tristearate monolayers clearly indicates that the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior in 2D Langmuir monolayers is more general and exhibits many of the features observed in 3D complex fluids.     

Scaling Behavior of the Rheological Properties of Montmorillonite Suspensions: Correlation between Interparticle Interaction and Degree of Flocculation

In this work we investigate some aspects of the rheological behavior of sodium montmorillonite (NaMt) suspensions in the pH range 3 to 9, of NaCl concentrations between 10(-3) and 10(-1) M, and of solid concentrations between 5 and 11% w/v. Three kinds of experiments were performed: steady-state viscometry, oscillatory test, and creep recovery. The physical quantities of interest were the yield stress sigma(y) of the suspensions, the elastic rigidity modulus G', and the instantaneous elastic compliance. Furthermore, G' was obtained from oscillatory tests in three different experiments: determination of the viscoelastic linear region, oscillograms, and the gelation process. All quantities were found to scale with the concentration of solids, C, according to a power law of the form Y=k(y)C(n). The exponents n were found to change from approximately 3 to approximately 6 when the pH was increased from 3 to 9 (at constant ionic strength 10(-2) M), although values as high as 10 were estimated when the NaCl concentration was reduced to 1 mM. Such values of n correlate well with the characteristics of the edge-to-face (E-F), edge-to-edge (E-E), and face-to-face (F-F) interparticle interactions. The minimum values of n correspond to maximum E-F attractions, whereas the largest n are associated with strong F-F repulsions. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

阳离子诱导海藻酸水溶液凝胶化的临界行为与自相似性

以作者对阳离子诱导海藻酸水溶液凝胶化的研究结果为中心,介绍了海藻酸钠水溶液随浓度增大和二价金属阳离子(Ca2 、Cu2 )的加入而发生的溶液-凝胶转变的临界点和相关临界指数,探讨了临界凝胶的自相似性和分形结构,以及动态标度理论对物理交联体系的适用性.基于对阳离子诱导海藻酸水溶液凝胶化及其临界行为的研究结果,提出了从凝胶化的出发点--溶液来对凝胶化进行分类的设想,根据起始组分分子链的长短将凝胶化过程分为生长型和交联型两类.     

Preparation and characterization of gel electrolyte with bacterial cellulose coated with alternating layers of chitosan and alginate for electric double-layer capacitors

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A novel gel electrolyte has been prepared using bacterial cellulose (BC) coated with chitosan (CTS) and alginate (Alg) layers, which contain...     

Alginate polyelectrolyte ionotropic gels. XIV. Kinetics and mechanism of formation of intermediate complex during the oxidation of alginate polysaccharide by alkaline permanganate with a spectrophotometric evidence of manganate(VI) transient species

The kinetics and mechanism of the [Alg.Mn ^VIO] intermediate complex formation during the oxidation of alginate polysaccharide at pHs ≥ 12 have been investigated spectrophotometrically. The reaction showed a first-order dependence in permanganate and a fractional order with respect to the alginate concentration (Alg). Kinetic and spectrophotometric evidence revealed the formation of manganate(VI) as transient species. The results obtained indicated the dependence of the rate of formation on the pH of the medium where the complex formation was base catalyzed. A mechanism consistent with the experimental results is discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Polymer modifies the critical region of the coexisting liquid phases

Several recent conceptual advances, which take advantage of the polymer conformation in the near critical point of coexisting liquid phases and practical techniques of some unique molecular interactions between polymer chain and the solvent molecules, have been made to allow the investigation of the effect of the well-defined polymer in phase separation of binary mixtures. The behavior of a flexible linear or branched chain polymer (polyethylene oxide, PEO, MW = 9 x 10(5), as an impurity) in the critical binary mixture of isobutyric acid (I) + water (W) was studied by the refractive index (n) measurements using a very accurate and sensitive refractometer. The refractive index in each phase of IW as well as three different PEO concentrations (C = 0.395, 0.796, and 1.605 mg/cm(3)) in the near critical composition of IW have been measured at temperatures below the system's upper critical point. We observed that the polymer was significantly affected in the critical region of IW and these various concentrations of PEO show an important behavior on the critical exponents (beta), the critical temperatures (T(c)), and critical composition (phi(c)), which are depicting the shape of the coexistence curve. The phase-transition region of coexisting phases of IW shifts down with the addition of PEO and T(c) decreases linearly with increasing PEO concentrations. This may indicate that the polymer chain entangles with each phase, thereby the polymer monomers strongly interact with neighbor solvent particles and also intrachain interaction between the polymer segments. At such conditions, the collapse of polymer chain is possible in the vicinity of the critical point. At temperatures T close enough to T(c), the critical exponent beta (defined by the relation (n(1) - n(2)) proportional, variant (T(c) - T)(beta), with n(1) and n(2) being the refractive indices of the coexisting phases) was found to decrease from 0.382 to 0.360 when the PEO concentration changes from 0.395 to 1.605 mg/cm(3). These values are higher than that of 0.326 +/- 0.005 of pure IW, which is compatible with the three-dimensional Ising value beta = 0.325. The observed critical exponents for the PEO in IW are fully renormalized Ising critical exponents. Besides, the phi(c) values decrease with increasing the C values in the mixture of IW. It appears that the shape of the PEO in IW coexistence curves is similar from that of pure IW.     

Sol-Gel Transition and Equilibrium Shear Modulus of Poly(vinyl chloride) and Plasticizers

The elasticity of poly(vinyl chloride) gels with molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n), of 2.16 have been studied in the region beyond their gel points. Dynamic storage modulus G′, and equilibrium gel shear modulus of elasticity G_e, at low frequencies (ω) have specific developments as a function of polymer concentrations c, and plasticizers. The scaling elasticity from G_e = kε^z equation holds at different PVC plasticizer gels. The scaling exponent z, and constant k. ε is defined as the relative distance, ε = (|c − c_g|)/c_g, the calculated z = 2.45 ± 0.15. Furthermore, this analysis provides constant k with certain informations about the dependency of gel elasticity on the kind of plasticizer. Near the sol-gel transition temperature T, G_e decreases rapidly with increasing temperature. The normalized moduli G_eM/cRT, of the gels at different temperature, and/or c were dependent on the relative distance from the gelation point ε, and PVC and plasticizers concentration respectively. These results suggested mesh size of gel network near the gelation point for PVC with bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DOP) or di-n-butyl sebacate (DBS) plasticizers that has been newly reported.     

Effects of surfactant micelles on viscosity and conductivity of poly(ethylene glycol) solutions

The neutral polymer-micelle interaction is investigated for various surfactants by viscometry and electrical conductometry. In order to exclude the well-known necklace scenario, we consider aqueous solutions of low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) (2-20)x10(3), whose radial size is comparable to or smaller than micelles. The single-tail surfactants consist of anionic, cationic, and nonionic head groups. It is found that the viscosity of the polymer solution may be increased several times by micelles if weak attraction between a polymer segment and a surfactant exists, epsilon相似文献   

用动态光散射跟踪钙-海藻酸水溶液凝胶化

海藻酸(alginate)是一种天然多糖,是直链键合的β-D-甘露糖醛酸(M)和α-L-古洛糖醛酸(G)的无规嵌段共聚物[1].在海藻酸水溶液中加入钙、铜、锌、铅等二价正离子,能够形成凝胶;其中钙-海藻酸凝胶在细胞输送、组织工程等领域受到人们的关注[2,3].影响海藻酸凝胶化的因素包括海藻酸的分子量和分子量分布、M/G值和序列分布、溶液浓度、正离子种类与浓度等[4,5].     

海藻酸盐凝胶化及其在软骨组织工程和药物控释领域的应用

介绍了海藻酸盐水溶液的凝胶化及其临界行为和松弛临界指数n.提出了将凝胶化按高分子的分子链长短分为生长型和交联型两类,前者为无规交联,符合逾渗连接的条件;后者大分子链间交联,不符合无规逾渗连接的条件.介绍了微囊化细胞载体、预成型支架和可注射支架,能够为软骨细胞提供良好的三维生长环境;通过LbL、二价离子交联等自组装技术,海藻酸能够实现对多种类型药物的包埋和控释.     

氯乙烯/邻苯二甲酸二烯丙基酯悬浮共聚特征

对４５℃时的氯乙烯／邻苯二甲酸二烯丙基酯（ＶＣ／ＤＡＰ）的悬浮共聚进行了研究，得到表观竞聚率ｒＶＣ＝０７６９、ｒＤＡＰ＝０３７４．凝胶点对应的ＤＡＰ临界起始浓度在０４６６～０４９３ｍｍｏｌ／ｍｏｌＶＣ之间（聚合转化率为８０～８５％），当ＤＡＰ起始浓度小于临界浓度时，ＶＣ／ＤＡＰ共聚物均为溶胶，溶胶平均聚合度随ＤＡＰ起始浓度和聚合转化率的提高而增大；当ＤＡＰ起始浓度大于临界浓度时，共聚物由溶胶和凝胶组成，凝胶含量随ＤＡＰ浓度和聚合转化率的提高而增加，溶胶聚合度则随ＤＡＰ浓度的提高而减小．在凝胶点前，共聚物的分子量分布随ＤＡＰ浓度的增加而变宽；凝胶点以后，分子量分布随ＤＡＰ浓度的增加而变窄．     

Thermal gelation of cellulose in a NaOH/thiourea aqueous solution

Utilizing a novel solvent of cellulose, 6 wt % NaOH/5 wt % thiourea aqueous solution, for the first time, we prepared the thermally induced cellulose gel. We investigated the thermal gelation of cellulose solutions with rheometry and the structure of the gel with 13C NMR, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, environmental scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The cellulose solutions revealed an increase in both the storage modulus (G') and the loss modulus (G") with an increase in the temperature during gelation. The temperature at the turning point, where G' overrides G" because of the onset of gelation, decreased from 38.6 to 20.1 degrees C with an increase of cellulose concentration from 4 to 6 wt %. Given enough time, G' of all solutions can exceed G" at a certain temperature slightly lower than the gelation temperature, indicating that the occurrence of the gelation is also a function of time. Each of the assigned peaks of NMR of the cellulose gel is similar to that of the cellulose solution, suggesting that the gelation resulted from a physical cross-linking. The gels were composed of relatively stable network units with an average diameter of about 47 nm. At either a higher temperature (at 60 degrees C for 30 s) or a longer gelation time (at 30 degrees C for 157 s), the gel in the 5 wt % cellulose solution could form. A schematic gelation process was proposed to illustrate the sol-gel transition: the random self-association of the cellulose chains having the exposed hydroxyl in the aqueous solution promotes the physical cross-linking networks.     

Concentration dependence of critical exponents for gelation in gellan gum aqueous solutions upon cooling

The sol-gel transition in aqueous gellan gum solutions induced upon cooling was investigated by rheology measurements. The gelation temperature was determined from the crossover point of storage and loss moduli, i.e., G′ = G′′ (T_c) and from the Winter’s criterion (T_gel), respectively, which increased with gellan concentration. T_gel was higher than T_c and the difference became larger as the gellan concentration got higher. The relaxation critical exponent n was estimated with the Winter’s method and the self-similarity was observed from the critical gel. The scaling for the zero-shear viscosity η₀ before the gel point and the equilibrium modulus G_e after the gel point was established against the relative distance ε from the gel point over the gellan concentration C_g of 1.0-2.5 wt%, giving the critical exponents k and z. The critical exponent n calculated from k and z agrees well with n from the Winter’s criterion. However, no universal n was found for the gelation in aqueous gellan gum solutions, indicating that this gelation should be classified into the cross-linking category for the physical gelation. The critical exponent n decreased with increasing C_g for the gellan gum solution. The fractal dimension d_f calculated from n with the screened hydrodynamic interaction and the excluded volume effect suggested a denser structure in the critical gel with higher C_g.