Rheological and diffusion properties of a dextran-con A polymer in the presence of Insulin and Magnesium

Previous work carried out in our laboratories has focused on the formation and investigation of a dextran and concanavalin A (con A) based gel, which has the ability to alter its conformational structure in the presence and absence of free and terminal glucoses such that a gel–sol phase transition occurs. Here we report the diffusion and rheological investigations in to the effects of the addition of insulin and varyingconcentrations of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (Mg₂Cl₂6H₂O) at 20 and 37 °C. Rheological examination of glucose-sensitive (dextran-con A) gels were conducted using a cone and plate viscometer used in continual rotation and oscillatory modes. The results are interpreted in terms of the structure of the gel network and suggest rheological assessment provides an effective method of assessing the properties of gel systems. The subsequent testing of such formulations in in-vitro diffusion experiments revealed a reduction in the rate of diffusivity in the insulin marker, poly R-478 dye. The performance of this self-regulating drug delivery system has been examined and the addition of insulin and magnesium chloride may alter the way in which the gel operates as a drug delivery device and in the delivery of insulin. This may have implications for other ligands.     

X-ray investigation of the role of the mixed emulsifier in the structure formation in o/w creams

The aim of this research work was to clarify the role of the mixed emulsifier in the structure formation and water binding mode in the case of o/w creams prepared with different surfactants. The swelling behavior of mixed emulsifiers was examined by means of direct investigation methods such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction. The detailed structure image of the creams was created with the help of the latter. The influence of the structure of the hydrophilic gel phase, and the structural changes during storage were studied with rheological methods. On the basis of the results, it can be stated that the investigated creams had different structures from those mentioned in the literature: surfactant did not create a mixed bilayer with the structure to furnish fatty amphiphile; instead, micelles were formed. These results correlated well with the results of the rheological tests.     

ABA／PET液晶共聚酯酰胺的结构与性能

研究了对象基苯甲酸（ＡＢＡ）／聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（ＰＥＴ）液晶共聚酯酰胺的晶体结构，以及热性能、流变学和力学性质。广角Ｘ射线衍射研究结果表明ＡＢＡ链节的引入使ＰＥＴ的晶态结构发生畸变，但大部分结晶衍射峰仍然存在。随着ＡＢＡ含量的增加，各晶面间距基本不变，微晶尺寸显著增大，结晶度急剧降低。差示扫描量热分析和热失重结果表明共聚酯胺具有优良的热稳定性，并且随着ＡＢＡ含量的增加，共聚物的热稳定性提高，共聚     

热致液晶共聚酯酰胺／PET共混物的流变性能和原位增强特性

采用Ｉｎｓｔｒｏｎ３２１１型毛细管流变仪研究了ＰＥＡ／ＰＥＴ共混物的流变性能，据此探讨共混物熔体的可纺性，讨论了共混物配比与复合纤维力学性能的关系，并且偏光显微镜，扫描电镜研究纤维的结构。结果表明，共混物的表观粘度低于ＰＥＴ的粘度，当ＰＥＡ为１０％，共混物的表观粘度达到最小值；且ＰＥＡ含量低于１０％时，共混物的可纺性即，表现出良好的原位增强效果。     

Influence of mechanical properties of pectin films on charge density and charge density distribution in pectin macromolecule

The hydration and mechanical properties of citrus pectin films were examined in conditions relevant to those in the plant cell wall. The pectins used for this study varied in the degree of esterification (DE) (high or low) and charge distribution on the backbone (random or block). The hydration of the films was controlled in an osmotic pressure experiment using polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG 20000). Hysteresis tests at constant deformation rate (stress vs deformation) were used for investigating the mechanical behaviour of films. Mechanical and hydration properties of pectin films were examined as a function of charge density, charge density distribution and counterion environment—K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺. Swelling decreased with increasing counterion concentration. The effect is stronger in the case of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ for low esterified pectins and therefore crosslinks from divalent ions could be assumed. The crosslink effect is confirmed in mechanical experiments where an increase in the film tensile modulus is observed with increasing counterion concentration. It is shown for the first time that in case of highly concentrated pectin solutions Mg²⁺ cations also act as a crosslinker for pectin macromolecules.     

Shear flow experiments in an assembly of gel beads and modelling of bingham behavior

In this paper, we present a rheological study of a compact layer of highly swollen gel beads. The flow regimes of these systems are modelled by an elastic sinusoid moving in a Newtonian fluid. This model predicts a yield stress varying with the square root of the elastic modulus of the gel bead. The slope at the origin (at zero velocity) of the flow curve is expected to depend only on geometrical parameters and on the solvent viscosity. The experimental data are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Influence of hydrophobe content on the solution rheology of hydrophobically modified terpolymer of SO2, N,N-diallyl-N-carboethoxymethylammonium chloride

Rheological properties of hydrophobically modified copolymer of SO₂, N,N-diallyl-N-carboethoxymethylammonium chloride and the hydrophobic monomer N,N-diallyl-N-octadecylammonium chloride were studied. The influence of hydrophobe content (HP) and polymer concentration was investigated. Polymers with HP content in the range 1.5-5% were examined and the concentration was varied in the range 2-5 wt%. Both dynamic and steady-shear experiments were performed in ARES rheometer. Copolymers were observed to exhibit typical viscoelastic behavior even with low HP content. Both the dynamic viscosity, η′ and storage modulus, G′, increase with the increase of both the polymer concentration and the HP content of the system. The viscosity of the high HP content polymer showed a strong shear dependency, while G′ was a weak function of frequency and gel-like behavior was observed. The zero-shear viscosity, η₀, showed a strong concentration dependency (η₀ ∼ ?^α; 1.1 < α < 5.9). The concentration dependency of η₀ suggests that intermolecular association is dominant in the high HP content polymer. Control of the HP content and polymer concentration of this class of polymers can lead to a wide range of interesting rheological properties.     

Rheology of asphalts modified with glycidylmethacrylate functionalized polymers

Asphalt is known to be a colloidal suspension in which asphaltenes are covered by a stabilizing phase of polar resins and form complex micelles that are dispersed in the oily maltenic phase. In order to enhance its mechanical properties (e.g., in road paving), asphalts are often loaded with polymeric materials, thereby obtaining blends that can have different physical or chemical structures, depending on the composition of the added polymer. Asphalts modified by the addition of reactive ethylene terpolymers were prepared and their dielectric and rheological properties were measured both before and after a cure at high temperature. Even if it is not possible to determine the exact nature of the chemical interactions between asphalt and polymer, master curves obtained from dynamic data clearly show that during the cure the material tends to the behavior of a cross-linked network.     

Concentrated reverse micelles in a random graft block copolymer system: structure and in-situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles

The structure and rheological properties of a poly(dimethylsiloxane)-graft-poly(oxyethylene) copolymer at high concentrations in block-selective solvents were studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and rheometry. Analysis of SAXS data indicates that quasispherical, reverse micellar aggregates (with no ordered packing) are present in concentrated solutions of the copolymer in nonpolar solvents, and that upon addition of water, the size of such aggregates increases due to the solubilization inside the micellar cores. The viscosity of concentrated polymer solutions increases exponentially as water is added, and finally, viscoelastic, gel-like behavior is found in the vicinity of the phase separation limit. It was found that small silver nanoparticles with an average diameter of ≈3 nm can be synthesized inside the copolymer aggregates without the need of a reducing agent; namely, particles embedded in a viscoelastic matrix are obtained. The synthesis seems to follow first-order kinetics. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.