The Rheological Properties of Chitosan Hydrogels

We study the rheological properties of chitosan-based hydrogels. We form the hydrogels using a standard procedure and use oscillatory rheology to characterize the resulting samples. We experimentally study the gelation process of chitosan using a chemical cross linker. We observe how changing the concentration of chitosan and the crosslinking agent in solution affects the gelation process. Not surprisingly, varying the preparation protocol affects the rheological properties of the hydrogels.