GEL-SOL TRANSITION IN GELLAN AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS

Gel-sol transition of sodium type gellan solutions with and without salts is studied by dynamic viscoelastic measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Mechanical spectra show that gellan aqueous solutions behave as an entangled polymer solution in the concentration range around 2 wt.-% at temperatures >15 degrees C and as a weak gel below this temperature. Concentrated solutions (> 3 wt.-%) show a true gel behavior below 30 degrees C. The two step transition is observed for 2-3 wt.-% gellan aqueous solutions in thermal scanning theological (TSR) measurements; the transition at a higher temperature is attributed to a coil-helix transition whilst the transition at a lower temperature is attributed to sol-gel transition. The transition observed in dilute solutions of gellan is attributed to the coil-helix transition whilst the sol-gel transition occurs simultaneously with coil-helix transition in more concentrated solutions (>3 wt.-%). The sol-gel transition temperature shifts to higher temperatures with increasing concentration of the added salts. Junction zones formed in the presence of divalent cations are far more heat resistant than those with monovalent cations judging from both DSC and TSR, however, the possibility of the formation of junction zones by covalent bonds or by ionic bonds is excluded.