Proprietà reologiche di dispersioni di laponite in matrici acquose di scleroglucano

Both laponite and scleroglucan can find several applications in various fields (from industrial to biomedical one) in virtue of their peculiar features and rheological properties displayed in aqueous phases. Structural states of laponite dispersions strongly depend on concentration and ionic strength. When attractive and repulsive interparticle interactions are so effective that they lead to generate arrested states (attractive gel or repulsive glass), the rheological behavior of the dispersion undergoes a sharp transition, from quasi-Newtonian to markedly shear thinning and viscoelastic. Conversely, scleroglucan solutions gradually change to weak gel behavior with increasing polymer concentration. The present work is concerned with aqueous laponite-scleroglucan systems, obtained according to different preparation modes, and is aimed at examining how much the content and proportion of both components affect the viscoelastic and flow properties of the mixed system