CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The ﬁlm-forming capacity of the biopolymer scleroglucan produced on the lab fermenter scale by Sclerotiumrolfsii ATCC 201126was studied. The effect of a freezethawing process on the physical properties of scleroglucan ﬁlmswas investigatedwith hydrogels of three different scleroglucan samples. Filmswere made from 1% (w/w) scleroglucan hydrogels using 2% (w/w) glycerol as plasticizer by applying two different protocols: (1) a room-temperature drying method and, (2) a freezethawing cyclic process (priorto the application of room-temperature drying). The obtained materials were characterized by physical studies including swelling, water vapor transmission, and environmental scanning electronmicroscopy.Based on the results obtained, when eight freezingthawing cycles were applied during scleroglucan ﬁlm preparation, a reinforcement of the structure was achieved pointing to an increase in the number of crosslinking points by H-bonding. All exopolysaccharides produced by S. rolfsii ATCC 201126 at lab fermenter scale showed a general promising behavior for the preparation of reinforced ﬁlms, opening new perspectives for their potential use in either controlled release systems or the formulation of additive-complemented ﬁlms for speciﬁc applications.