title: Enhanced gelation properties of purified gellan gum.
abstract: Gellan gum is a hydrogel-forming polysaccharide when combined with monovalent or divalent cations such as sodium, magnesium, potassium or calcium. Commercially, gellan gums are sold with trace amounts of these cations, which have been proven to affect the gelation and mechanical properties of the resultant hydrogels. A new method based on impedance analysis for determining the gel transition temperature of purified and un-purified gellan gum is presented. The sodium salt form of gellan gum is shown to have lower dissolution and gel transition temperatures.
authors.affiliation: Soft Materials Group, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Damian Martin
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kirchmajer
authors.affiliation: Soft Materials Group, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
authors.affiliation: Soft Materials Group, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: CP Kelco, San Diego R&D, 8225 Aero Drive, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Soft Materials Group, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. Electronic address: panhuis@uow.edu.au.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: in het Panhuis
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D002414:Cations, Monovalent; D017097:Electric Impedance; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D015394:Molecular Structure; D044367:Phase Transition; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry; D012964:Sodium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002413:Cations, Divalent; D002414:Cations, Monovalent; D020100:Hydrogels; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; C048288:gellan gum; D012964:Sodium; D008274:Magnesium; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Gelation; Gellan gum; Impedance; Purification