ON THE LUBRICATING BEHAVIOUR OF KAPPA CARRAGEENAN GELLED NETWORKS

摘要

The carrageenans are a family of polysaccharides extracted from red-seaweed and are well known for their ability to form thickened liquids and solid gels. The kappa-carrageenan isoform may be used to create aqueous gels in the presence of K`+ ions via a process of molecular ordering. The ordering is understood to occur via a domain model that proceeds via a coil to helix transition, followed by helix side-by-side association. The resulting gels may have a range of properties dependent not only on the carrageenan polymeric structure and molecular weight, concentration, ionic content, and cooling rate, but also on the shear field applied during gelation.