title: The textural properties and microstructure of konjac glucomannan - tungsten gels induced by DC electric fields.
abstract: Konjac glucomannan - tungsten (KGM-T) gels were successfully prepared under DC electric fields, in the presence of sodium tungstate. The textural properties and microstructure of the gels were investigated by Texture Analyzer, Rheometer and SEM. Based on the response surface methodology (RSM) results, the optimum conditions for KGM-T gel springiness is 0.32% sodium tungstate concentration, 0.54% KGM concentration, 24.66V voltage and 12.37min treatment time. Under these conditions, the maximum springiness value of KGM-T gel is 1.21mm. Steady flow measurement indicated that KGM-T gel showed characteristic non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour, with low flow behaviour indexes in the shear thinning region. SEM demonstrated the porosity of the freeze-dried samples. These findings may pave the way to use DC electric fields for the design and development of KGM gels and to apply KGM gels for practical applications.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, China. Electronic address: wang3775404@163.com.
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Biotechnology, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, China. Electronic address: yuanhongzhuang@qq.com.
authors.forename: Yuanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. Electronic address: jingliang.li@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jingliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China. Electronic address: pang3721941@163.com.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Biomimetics and Soft Matter, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Soft Functional Materials Research, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China; Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117542, Singapore. Electronic address: 61971934@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xiangyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008351:Mannans / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D014414:Tungsten / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D008351:Mannans; C022901:(1-6)-alpha-glucomannan; D014414:Tungsten
keywords: DC electric field; Gel; Konjac glucomannan (KGM); Microstructure; Textural properties