Gel-sol transition of methylcellulose

The gelation mechanism of aqueous solutions of methylcellulose (MC) with different molecular weights was studied by small deformation oscillation rheological measurments and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The gelation is promoted by the increase in molecular weight of MC: the elastic modulus becomes larger, the gelation occurs at lower temperatures and the DSC peaks accompanying the gel-sol transition become sharper. Cooling DSC curves split into two peaks, indicating that the gel-to-sol transition occurred via two steps.