Dynamic Light Scattering Study of the Sol-Gel Transition of Gelatin Solution by Using Polystyrene Latex Spheres as Probes

Abstract

By examining the change in dynamic light scattering spectra, we assumed the existence of the coexistent phase of the sol and gel phases in the temperature range from 300 K to the sol-gel transition point ( T g ). The temperature dependence of the volume fraction of the gel phase (φ g ) could be measured in the sol phase as φ g =Φ/( T - T φ ) ( T g < T <300 K), where Φ=0.635 K and T φ =288.5 K. It was also found that the temperature dependence of the gelatin solution viscosity (η) obeys the Vogel-Fulcher law. From the temperature dependences of φ g and η, we propose the following simple equation that relates η to φ g , η=η 0 exp (23.0φ g ), where η 0 is a constant.