Evaluation of Rheological Properties and Swelling Behaviour of Sonicated Scleroglucan Samples.docVIP

Molecules 2012, 17, 2283-2297; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Evaluation of Rheological Properties and Swelling Behaviour of Sonicated Scleroglucan Samples Siddique Akber Ansari, Pietro Matricardi, Chiara Di Meo, Franco Alhaique and Tommasina Coviello * Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, University “La Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; E-Mails: siddiqueakber.ansari@uniroma1.it (S.A.A.); pietro.matricardi@uniroma1.it (P.M.); Chiara.Dimeo@uniroma1.it (C.D.M); franco.alhaique@uniroma1.it (F.A.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: tommasina.coviello@uniroma1.it; Tel.: +39-06-4991-3557; Fax: +39-06-4991-3133. Received: 16 January 2012; in revised form: 9 February 2012 / Accepted: 16 February 2012 / Published: 24 February 2012 Abstract: Scleroglucan is a natural polysaccharide that has been proposed for various applications. However there is no investigation on its property variations when the molecular weight of this polymer is reduced. Scleroglucan was sonicated at two different polymer concentrations for different periods of time and the effect of sonication was investigated with respect to molecular weight variations and rheological properties. Molar mass, estimated by viscometric measurements, was drastically reduced already after a sonication for a few min. Sonicated samples were used for the preparation of gels in the presence of borate ions. The effect of borax on the new samples was investigated by recording the mechanical spectra and the flow curves. A comparison with the system prepared with the dialysed polymer was also carried out. The anisotropic elongation, observed with tablets of scleroglucan and borax, was remarkably reduced when the sonicated samples were used for the preparation of the gels. Keywords: scleroglucan; sonication; rheology; polymer gels;