Impact of Collagen on the Rheological and Transport Properties of Agarose Hydrogels

This work investigated how collagen addition affects the rheological and transport properties of agarose hydrogels. Collagen did not affect the rheological character of hydrogels (i.e., the overall shape of amplitude and frequency response curves) but changed their viscoelastic moduli and mesh size dependent on the concentration of both constituents. The diffusion coefficients of the oppositely charged model dyes eosin B and methylene blue were determined in all hydrogels and demonstrated a profound effect of electrostatic interactions. Comparison with similar work with fibroin addition showed that while the effects of these proteins on the viscoelastic properties of a polysaccharide network can be similar, their impact on network transport properties may be different.