title: High frequency viscoelastic behaviour of low molecular weight hyaluronic acid water solutions.
abstract: Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a polysaccharide widely used in biomedical applications, due to its elevated biocompatibility and the peculiar viscoelastic properties of its solutions. Although the viscoelastic behaviour of HA solutions has been extensively studied in the literature it has been often reported in the range of low frequency (1-100 Hz) and high salt concentration, whereas the main rheological peculiarities of this molecule are expected at high frequency (>100 Hz) and low salt concentration. In this work we studied the viscoelastic properties of low molecular weight HA (155 kDa) in wide range of concentrations (0.01-20 mg/ml) at low ionic strength and over an extended frequency range (0.1-1000 Hz) using both optical tweezers and conventional rheometry. Good agreement between the high frequency dynamic behaviour (optical tweezers) and the viscoelastic properties at low frequency (rheometry) was found. We also found that, in apparent contradiction with polyelectrolyte solution theory, HA solution behaves as liquid-like viscoelastic fluid (G''>G') even at concentrations higher than the entanglement concentration where a weak-gel behavior should be expected.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials (CRIB) and Department of Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Sabato
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.forename: Assunta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borzacchiello
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miccio
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rusciano
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasso
authors.forename: Paolo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Netti
mesh_terms: D004548:Elasticity; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008970:Molecular Weight; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D012212:Rheology; D014783:Viscosity; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid