Viscoelastic Response of Gelatin Gels

ARIEL A. BRAIDOT; MARIEL L. OTTONE; MARTA B. PEIROTTI; JULIO A. DEIBER

Los Cocos- Córdoba

Simposio; III Argentine-Chilean Polymer Symposium, VII Argentine Polymer Symposium, VII Chilean Symposium of Polymer Chemistry and Physical-Chemistry; 2005

Gelatins are complex heterogeneous mixtures of polypeptides obtained from collagen. After a given time of maturation under normal cooling, gelatin solutions can yield a firm and transparent gel due to the partial reformation of the collagen structure (Ledward, 1986) provided the protein concentration is greater than some critical value. The gel contains extended physical crosslinks or junction zones stabilized by inter-chain hydrogen bonds. The functiocal properties of gelatins depend on a large number of parameters, which are difficult to control. In general, one expects to find a wide spectrum of gelatin types that may differ in amino acid composition and sequence. Therefore, in this context of analysis, viscoelastic models coupled to the maturation kinetics that predicts the mechanical properties of gelatin solutions can be of practical interest (Braidot and Deiber, 1999).