Rheological monitoring of the formation of polyvinyl alcohol–Congo Red gels

Abstract

The formation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-Congo Red (CR) gels has been followed rheologically. These gels are almost purely elastic, their storage modulus G′ is entropically determined. The time dependency of G′ has been used to analyze the kinetics of the gelling process. The network build-up proceeds in two stages, the first of which being the formation of a superstructure in the PVA molecule. The main function of CR is the promotion of this superstructure formation.