Mechanical and Structural Properties of Maltodextrin/Agarose Gel Composites

Abstract

When two biopolymers are mixed together, they will normally phase separate to give two distinct phases. If the biopolymers are gelled during this phase separation, for instance by reducing the temperature, one phase is trapped in this other one and an emulsion-like composite structure is obtained. In this study, we investigated the effect of volume fraction and droplet size of this dispersed phase on the mechanical properties of maltodextrin/agarose gel composites, where agarose is the dispersed phase. Mechanical properties of the different composites were investigated under large deformation using a rheometer with a vane geometry. These composites were also observed by confocal microscopy, allowing conclusions to be drawn regarding the microstructural origins of the observed mechanical behaviour.

Keywords

• maltodextrin
• agarose
• biopolymer mixture
• phase separation
• mechanical properties