DYNAMIC LIGHT SCATTERING-BASED MICRORHEOLOGY OF THERMOSENSITIVE CHITOSAN HYDROGELS: PRELIMINARY STUDIES

This paper presents a preliminary characterisation of the local mechanical properties of thermosensitive chitosan systems using dynamic light scattering, an endeavour that has not yet been attempted. The tests included solutions of chitosan chloride with the addition of sodium glycerophosphate as well as those without a substance to support the gelation process. There was much better agreement between the data obtained from measurements on the microscopic and macroscopic scales for systems without the addition of glycerophosphate. In most cases, the addition of a pH-neutralising salt resulted in higher values of dynamic moduli than those obtained during microrheological measurements. Therefore, it seems to be possible to use dynamic light scattering to conduct microrheological studies of thermosensitive chitosan systems.