Rheological characterization of konjac glucomannan in concentrated solutions

Dynamic viscoelasticity measurements were performed for concentrated solutions of konjac glucomannan in an ionic liquid. The entanglement coupling appeared in the rheological data for each solution was characterized in terms of the molecular weight between entanglements (Me) as an average size of the transient entanglement network. The value of Me for konjac glucomannan in the molten state was estimated to be 1.8 × 103 (in g mol−1), being significantly smaller than that for cellulose, although the molecular weight and linkage of the repeating units were the same between these polysaccharides. This result suggested that the configuration of the repeating monosaccharide unit affected the entanglement network of these polysaccharides reflecting the single chain characteristics.